High Temperature Transport Properties of Tetrahedrite Cu12−x M x Sb4−y Te y S13 (M = Zn, Ni) Compounds.

International audienceNatural and synthetic tetrahedrites are currently the focus of attention in thermoelectricity due to their abundance, numerous possibilities of substitution, and their complex crystal structure (I4¯3m) resulting in extremely low lattice thermal conductivity (below 1 W m−1 K−1 above 300 K). Here, we report on the synthesis, structural and chemical characterizations, and high-temperature thermoelectric properties of polycrystalline Cu12−x M x Sb4−y Te y S13 (M = Zn, Ni) tetrahedrites. Upon substituting on both the Cu and Sb sites, we successfully improved the thermoelectric properties with respect to the ternary compound Cu12Sb4S13 with peak ZT values of 0.7 at 700 K