CuCrSe 2 Ternary Chromium Chalcogenide: Facile Fabrication, Doping and Thermoelectric Properties

Starting from elemental powder mixture, ternary chromium chalcogenide CuCrSe 2 has been synthesized facilely via the route of mechanical alloying and subsequent annealing. Effect of indium doping on the thermoelectric performance of CuCrSe 2 has been studied detailedly. With the increase in indium doping content, the electrical resistivity decreases firstly until 0.25 at.% due to the electronegativity difference between In and Cr, and then increases due to the dissolution of indium and subsequent supersaturation precipitation of CuInSe 2 , and the Seebeck coefficient shows a similar trend with the electrical resistivity. The thermal conductivity increases firstly and then decreases with the increase in indium doping content due to the increasing phonon scattering by the CuInSe 2 and CuCr 2 Se 4 . As a result, a maximum ZT of 0.65 at 673 K was achieved in the sample with 1.0 at.% In doping, which is enhanced almost 54% in compared with the In‐free sample.