Authors
Dezheng Gao, Shulin Bai, Yi Wen, Yichen Li, Yu Tian, Pengpeng Chen, Dongrui Liu, Yi Yue, Yuezhan Huang, Zhaokang Sun, Dingxuan Gong, Yixuan Hu, Tian Gao, Shibo Liu, Xiang Gao, In Chung, Hongyao Xie, Li-Dong Zhao
Published in
Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.). Pages e75094. Sep 22, 2026. Epub Sep 22, 2026.
Abstract
Diamondoid Cu3SbSe4 is an earth-abundant thermoelectric material with strong potential for near-room to mid-temperature applications. However, its performance has been limited by intrinsically low carrier mobility. Here, we report the first successful growth of large-sized Cu3SbSe4 crystals, achieving a fivefold enhancement in carrier mobility, and demonstrate the first Cu3SbSe4-based thermoelectric cooling device. We show that Ag substitution reduces both the effective mass and deformation potential through strengthened bond covalency, yielding a high carrier mobility of ∼150 cm2 V-1 s-1. This leads to a remarkable power factor of ∼23 µW cm-1 K-2 at 300 K, a maximum ZT of ∼1.6 at 700 K and an average ZT of ∼0.85 over 300-700 K, representing state-of-the-art performance among Cu-based thermoelectric materials in this temperature range. A 7-pair device based on Cu3SbSe4 crystal achieves a cooling temperature difference of ∼25 K at room temperature, and reaching a maximum of ∼34 K at 343 K. Additionally, the optimized sample demonstrates a single-leg power-generation efficiency of ∼7% at ΔT = 350 K. These results highlight crystal-growth as a powerful strategy to unlock high-performance refrigeration in previously limited materials, establishing diamondoid Cu3SbSe4 crystals as a viable, low-cost and environmentally benign platform for practical thermoelectric applications.
PMID:
42770879
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 22 Sep 2026.
Read full publication at:
Please sign in
to see all details.
Advertisement
Stats
- Recommendations n/a n/a positive of 0 vote(s)
- Views 15
- Comments 0