Thermoelectricity Generation and Electron-Magnon Scattering in a Natural Chalcopyrite Mineral from a Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent.
Current high-performance thermoelectric materials require elaborate doping and synthesis procedures, particularly in regard to the artificial structure, and the underlying thermoelectric mechanisms are still poorly understood. Here, we report that a natural chalcopyrite mineral, Cu1+x Fe1-x S2 , obtained from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent can directly generate thermoelectricity. The resistivity displayed an excellent semiconducting character, and a large thermoelectric power and high power factor were found in the low x region. Notably, electron-magnon scattering and a large effective mass was detected in this region, thus suggesting that the strong coupling of doped carriers and antiferromagnetic spins resulted in the natural enhancement of thermoelectric properties during mineralization reactions. The present findings demonstrate the feasibility of thermoelectric energy generation and electron/hole carrier modulation with natural materials that are abundant in the Earth's crust.
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), International Center for Materials Nanoarchitechtonics (MANA), Namiki 1-1, Tsukuba 305-0044 (Japan). rang@scu.edu.cn.|Key Laboratory of Radiation Physics and Technology, Ministry of Education, Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064 (China). rang@scu.edu.cn.
Ran
R
Ang
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), International Center for Materials Nanoarchitechtonics (MANA), Namiki 1-1, Tsukuba 305-0044 (Japan).
Atta Ullah
AU
Khan
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), International Center for Materials Nanoarchitechtonics (MANA), Namiki 1-1, Tsukuba 305-0044 (Japan).
Naohito
N
Tsujii
Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research (D-SUGAR) (Japan), Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka 273-0061 (Japan).
Ken
K
Takai
RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Hirosawa 2-1, Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan). ryuhei.nakamura@riken.jp.
Ryuhei
R
Nakamura
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), International Center for Materials Nanoarchitechtonics (MANA), Namiki 1-1, Tsukuba 305-0044 (Japan). MORI.Takao@nims.go.jp.
Takao
T
Mori
energy conversion; materials science; semiconductors; solid-state chemistry; thermoelectric materials