Thermoelectric materials are attractive for solar thermal energy conversion and waste heat recovery. The existing methods for fabricating thermoelectric materials involve multi-step processes with considerable time and energy consumption. Here we report a fast and one-step way to prepare thermoelectric materials by gas-pressure or high-gravity assisted combustion synthesis. Dense Cu2SnSe3 samples with a porosity below 2% were prepared from self-sustained combustion reaction of element powders. The electrical conductivity of the Cu2SnSe3 samples was greatly enhanced and the thermal conductivity was reduced by partial substitution of Sn with In. The ZT values of the un-doped and In-doped Cu2SnSe3 samples reached 0.51 and 0.62 at 773 K, respectively, which are comparable to the best results reported for Cu2SnSe3 produced by other methods. Combustion synthesis offers an efficient way to prepare thermoelectric materials with reduced time and energy consumption, which may open up new possibilities for synthesis of thermoelectric materials.

Journal of the European Ceramic Society

Available online 6 January 2016

An illustration of combustion synthesis of Cu2SnSe3: (a) combustion synthesis in air; (b) combustion synthesis in vacuum or Ar atmosphere; (c) combustion synthesis in a high-gravity field.