Thermoelectric Properties of Cu2Se Synthesized by Hydrothermal Method and Densified by SPS Technique

The aim of the work was to obtain copper (I) selenide Cu2Se material with excellent thermoelectric properties, synthesized using the hydrothermal method and densified by the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. Chemical and phase composition studies were carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. Measurements of thermoelectric transport properties, i.e., electrical conductivity, the Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity in the temperature range from 300 to 965 K were carried out. Based on these results, the temperature dependence of the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT as a function of temperature was determined. The obtained, very high ZT parameter (ZT similar to 1.75, T = 965 K) is one of the highest obtained so far for undoped Cu2Se.