Phase-Controlled Synthesis and Low Thermal Conductivity in Cu ₄ TiTe ₄
6 affiliations
- 1School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798
- 2Department of Chemistry
- 3Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
- 4Institute of Materials Research and Engineering
- 5Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR
- 6Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Kita 13, Nishi 8, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, 060-8628
Abstract
The synthesis of phase-pure Cu-based multinary tellurides remains challenging due to the competitive formation of stable Cu–Te binary phases, which frequently intercept the reaction pathway as secondary products. In the Cu 4 TiTe 4 system, rapid synthesis temperature mapping reveals the synthesis window, whereas precise compositional control suppresses secondary Cu–Te binaries to unlock non-equilibrium phase selection. We demonstrate that addition of 2 wt% excess Ti shifts the reaction chemistry toward Cu 4 TiTe 4 , suppressing detectable Cu–Te secondary phases and yielding phase-pure Cu 4 TiTe 4 over the identified 623–873 K synthesis window. Cu 4 TiTe 4 crystallises in a ‘stuffed sulvanite’ type structure, similar to Cu 4 TiSe 4 , and exhibits an order–disorder phase transition, in which partial ordering of the Cu sublattice induces structural transformation primarily governed by Cu sublattice ordering. Bulk Cu 4 TiTe 4 is a p-type narrow bandgap semiconductor that achieves a low lattice thermal conductivity of 0.63 to 0.68 W m -1 K -1 between 300 and 423 K. Transport calculations attribute the low observed thermal conductivity to Cu-sublattice disorder, local symmetry breaking, and localized Ti-dominated vibrations that collectively suppress phonon transport.
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BibTeX
@misc{dutta2026phasecontrolled,
title = {{Phase-Controlled Synthesis and Low Thermal Conductivity in Cu ₄ TiTe ₄}},
author = {Jayanta Dutta and Arnab Dutta and Haiwen Dai and Wei Nong and Sandip Kumar Kuila and Andy Paul Chen and Durga Venkata Maheswar Repaka and Pawan Kumar and Chenguang Zhang and Lennard Yeo Sheng Yin and Achintya Lakshan and Akira Miura and Partha Pratim Jana and Kedar Hippalgaonkar},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15011168/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15011168/v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Phase-Controlled Synthesis and Low Thermal Conductivity in Cu ₄ TiTe ₄
AU - Jayanta Dutta
AU - Arnab Dutta
AU - Haiwen Dai
AU - Wei Nong
AU - Sandip Kumar Kuila
AU - Andy Paul Chen
AU - Durga Venkata Maheswar Repaka
AU - Pawan Kumar
AU - Chenguang Zhang
AU - Lennard Yeo Sheng Yin
AU - Achintya Lakshan
AU - Akira Miura
AU - Partha Pratim Jana
AU - Kedar Hippalgaonkar
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15011168/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15011168/v1
AB - The synthesis of phase-pure Cu-based multinary tellurides remains challenging due to the competitive formation of stable Cu–Te binary phases, which frequently intercept the reaction pathway as secondary products. In the Cu 4 TiTe 4 system, rapid synthesis temperature mapping reveals the synthesis window, whereas precise compositional control suppresses secondary Cu–Te binaries to unlock non-equilibrium phase selection. We demonstrate that addition of 2 wt% excess Ti shifts the reaction chemistry toward Cu 4 TiTe 4 , suppressing detectable Cu–Te secondary phases and yielding phase-pure Cu 4 TiTe 4 over the identified 623–873 K synthesis window. Cu 4 TiTe 4 crystallises in a ‘stuffed sulvanite’ type structure, similar to Cu 4 TiSe 4 , and exhibits an order–disorder phase transition, in which partial ordering of the Cu sublattice induces structural transformation primarily governed by Cu sublattice ordering. Bulk Cu 4 TiTe 4 is a p-type narrow bandgap semiconductor that achieves a low lattice thermal conductivity of 0.63 to 0.68 W m -1 K -1 between 300 and 423 K. Transport calculations attribute the low observed thermal conductivity to Cu-sublattice disorder, local symmetry breaking, and localized Ti-dominated vibrations that collectively suppress phonon transport.
ER -