Room temperature aqueous-based synthesis of copper-doped lead sulfide nanoparticles for thermoelectric application

A versatile, scalable, room temperature and surfactant-free route for the synthesis of metal chalcogenide nanoparticles in aqueous solution is detailed here production PbS Cu-doped nanoparticles. Subsequently, are annealed a reducing atmosphere to remove surface oxide, consolidated into dense polycrystalline materials by means spark plasma sintering. By characterizing transport properties sintered material, we observe annealing step incorporation Cu play key role promoting thermoelectric performance PbS. The presence allows improving electrical conductivity increasing charge carrier concentration simultaneously maintaining large mobility, which overall translates record power factors at ambient temperature, 2.3 mWm-1K−2. Simultaneously, lattice thermal decreases with introduction Cu, leading high ZT = 0.37 1.22 773 K. Besides, average ZTave 0.76 demonstrated range 320–773 K n-type Pb0.955Cu0.045S.