Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDNature communications
Efficient power generation near room temperature in earth-abundant thermoelectric tin sulfide via lattice ordering.
20 affiliations
- 1Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
- 2International Graduate Program of Molecular Science and Technology (NTU-MST), National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
- 3Taiwan International Graduate Program (TIGP), Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
- 4Center for Condensed Matter Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
- 5Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. [email protected].
- 6College of Semiconductor Research, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
- 7Simulation in Materials Science Research Group, Science and Technology Advanced Institute, Van Lang University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
- 8Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
- 9National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
- 10Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
- 11Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
- 12Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
- 13Center of Atomic Initiative for New Materials, Taipei, Taiwan.
- 14Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
- 15CRISMAT, CNRS, Normandie Univ, ENSICAEN; Unicaen, Caen, France.
- 16Center for Condensed Matter Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. [email protected].
- 17Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. [email protected].
- 18Center of Atomic Initiative for New Materials, Taipei, Taiwan. [email protected].
- 19Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. [email protected].
- 20Center for Condensed Matter Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. [email protected].
Abstract
The inefficient carrier transport of earth-abundant tin sulfide (SnS), arising from its intrinsically low crystal symmetry, limits its thermoelectric performance at low temperatures. Here, the substitutional Ag⁺ doping modifies the Na-doped SnS crystal structure by reinforcing lattice dynamical anisotropy and enhancing in-plane transport properties. Concurrently, the reconstructed valence-band structure evolves into a modulated multiband configuration, increasing the density-of-states effective mass while preserving high carrier mobility. The resulting highly metallic conductivity combined with high thermopower yields the room-temperature power factor of ~101 µW cm⁻¹K⁻² in Sn0.96Na0.01Ag0.03S single crystals. Coupled with the intrinsically low thermal conductivity of SnS, the optimized crystal achieves the figure of merit (zT) of ~1.06 at 300 K and ~2.0 at 573 K, delivering a conversion efficiency of ~3.3% and an output power density of ~0.31 W cm⁻² in a single-leg module under a 243 K temperature gradient. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of crystal structure modification and multiband engineering in SnS and establish it as a highly promising low-cost thermoelectric material for near-room-temperature energy conversion.
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BibTeX
@article{fakhri2026efficient,
title = {{Efficient power generation near room temperature in earth-abundant thermoelectric tin sulfide via lattice ordering.}},
author = {Muhammad Yusuf Fakhri and Abhishek Ghosh and Wei-Ching Lai and Duc-Long Nguyen and Hans Hong-Ming Jheng and Suneesh Meledath Valiyaveettil and Peramaiyan Ganesan and Raman Sankar and Ching-Yueh Huang and Chien-Ching Chang and Cheng-Maw Cheng and Chien-Neng Liao and Bo-Chia Chen and Hsin-Jay Wu and Zi-Liang Yang and Ya-Ping Chiu and Ming-Hao Lee and Ming-Wen Chu and Shin Sato and Kei Hayashi and Carmelo Prestipino and Emmanuel Guilmeau and Li-Chyong Chen and Kuei-Hsien Chen},
journal = {Nature communications},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-77691-x},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42875442},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Efficient power generation near room temperature in earth-abundant thermoelectric tin sulfide via lattice ordering.
AU - Muhammad Yusuf Fakhri
AU - Abhishek Ghosh
AU - Wei-Ching Lai
AU - Duc-Long Nguyen
AU - Hans Hong-Ming Jheng
AU - Suneesh Meledath Valiyaveettil
AU - Peramaiyan Ganesan
AU - Raman Sankar
AU - Ching-Yueh Huang
AU - Chien-Ching Chang
AU - Cheng-Maw Cheng
AU - Chien-Neng Liao
AU - Bo-Chia Chen
AU - Hsin-Jay Wu
AU - Zi-Liang Yang
AU - Ya-Ping Chiu
AU - Ming-Hao Lee
AU - Ming-Wen Chu
AU - Shin Sato
AU - Kei Hayashi
AU - Carmelo Prestipino
AU - Emmanuel Guilmeau
AU - Li-Chyong Chen
AU - Kuei-Hsien Chen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/14
JO - Nature communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-77691-x
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42875442
AB - The inefficient carrier transport of earth-abundant tin sulfide (SnS), arising from its intrinsically low crystal symmetry, limits its thermoelectric performance at low temperatures. Here, the substitutional Ag⁺ doping modifies the Na-doped SnS crystal structure by reinforcing lattice dynamical anisotropy and enhancing in-plane transport properties. Concurrently, the reconstructed valence-band structure evolves into a modulated multiband configuration, increasing the density-of-states effective mass while preserving high carrier mobility. The resulting highly metallic conductivity combined with high thermopower yields the room-temperature power factor of ~101 µW cm⁻¹K⁻² in Sn0.96Na0.01Ag0.03S single crystals. Coupled with the intrinsically low thermal conductivity of SnS, the optimized crystal achieves the figure of merit (zT) of ~1.06 at 300 K and ~2.0 at 573 K, delivering a conversion efficiency of ~3.3% and an output power density of ~0.31 W cm⁻² in a single-leg module under a 243 K temperature gradient. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of crystal structure modification and multiband engineering in SnS and establish it as a highly promising low-cost thermoelectric material for near-room-temperature energy conversion.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -