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Article citation: Peng Wang, Dalton Trans., 2010, DOI: 10.1039/b914555a
Composition, structure, bonding and thermoelectric properties of
CuT2P3
and CuT4P3, members of the T1-x(CuP3)x series with T being Si and GePeng Wang, Faraz Ahmadpour, Taras Kolodiazhnyi, Alfred Kracher, Lachlan M. D. Cranswick and Yurij Mozharivskyj
Through electron microprobe analysis, X-ray and neutron diffraction, it has been established that
CuT2P3
and CuT4P3 (T = Si, Ge) adopt the cubic or tetragonally distorted zinc blende structures in which two element mixtures are present on both atomic sites. One site contains the Cu/T mixture while the other site is occupied by T and P. The structure of CuT2P3 and CuT4P3 can be derived from that of silicon or germanium, in which the single Si or Ge site is broken into two independent sites by the preferential Cu and P substitution. The phases appear to be members of the extended series with a general formula of T1-x(CuP3)x. The Cu–P ratio of 1 : 3 provides 4 e- per atom and optimizes the atomic interactions. Thermoelectric performance of CuSi2P3, CuGe2P3 and CuGe4P3 was evaluated from low temperatures to 400 K through resistivity, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity measurements. The Ge-containing phases show a metallic-type behaviour and CuSi2P3 is semiconducting with a narrow band gap. The ZT values are bigger for the Ge-containing phases and reach values of 8.49 × 10-3 for CuGe2P3 and 1.09 × 10-2 for CuGe4P3 at room temperature.
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