Abstract
Tetrahedrite,an Earth-abundant natural mineral,has attracted extensive research interest because of its excellent thermoelectric performance.Herein,tetrahedrite samples comprising Cu-poor Cu12Sb4S13 and Cu-rich Cu14Sb4S13 phases have been synthesized using a colloidal method,in which the ratio of two phases is manipulated by controlling the synthesis temperature to improve the thermoelectric perfor-mance.It is found that an ultralow total thermal conductivity of～0.3 W m-1 K-1 at 723 K is realized in the sample with a Cu-rich phase fraction of～50％,which can be attributed to maximized phonon scattering by phase boundaries.As a result,combined with a decent power factor,this sample obtains an optimal zT of 1.15,which is about 85％higher than that of the sample with a Cu-rich phase fraction of～64％and comparable to zT values of other eco-friendly,abundant Cu-based thermoelectric materials.This work demonstrates an effective synthesis-temperature-dependent phase composition manipulation strategy toward enhanced thermoelectric performance in tetrahedrites.
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