# US 11,444,229 B2 · Thermoelectric material, and thermoelectric device and electronic device comprising the same

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- Number: US 11,444,229 B2
- Document ID: US11444229B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/428,208
- Filed: 2019-05-31
- Published: 2019-12-05
- Granted: 2022-09-13
- Earliest claimed: 2018-06-01
- Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Se Yun Kim; Jinhong Kim; Hyun Sik Kim; Chang Soo Lee
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11444229B2

## CPC

- H10N 10/852: comprising tellurium, selenium or sulfur
- H10N 10/10: operating with only the Peltier or Seebeck effects
- H10N: ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

A thermoelectric material including a thermoelectric element including thermoelectric inorganic material represented by Chemical Formula 1; and a conduction path in contact with a surface of the thermoelectric element, wherein the conduction path is formed of a conductive material having electrical conductivity of greater than or equal to about 1,000 Siemens per centimeter BixSb(2-x)Te(3-y-z)SeySz Chemical Formula 1 wherein 0<x≤2, 0≤y≤3, 0≤z≤3, and 0≤y+z≤3.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A thermoelectric material, comprising:
a thermoelectric element comprising a thermoelectric inorganic material represented by Chemical Formula 1; and
a conduction path in contact with an exterior surface of the thermoelectric inorganic material,
wherein the thermoelectric element is a nanoparticle-shaped thermoelectric element, a nanosheet-shaped thermoelectric element, or a combination thereof,
wherein the thermoelectric element comprises two or more adjacent thermoelectric elements,
wherein the conduction path is disposed between at least a portion of the two or more adjacent thermoelectric elements,
wherein the conduction path comprises a conductive material coating the exterior surface of the thermoelectric inorganic material and having an electrical conductivity of greater than or equal to about 1,000 Siemens per centimeter, and
wherein the conductive material comprises at least one of a metal oxide, a metal boride, a metal carbide, a chalcogenide, or a transition metal,
BixSb(2-x)Te(3-y-z)SeySz Chemical Formula 1
wherein 0<x≤2, 0≤y≤3, 0≤z≤3, and 0≤y+z≤3.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The thermoelectric material of claim 1, wherein the conduction path is in contact with at least a portion a surface of each of the two or more adjacent thermoelectric elements.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The thermoelectric material of claim 1, wherein the conduction path is extended to separate the two or more adjacent thermoelectric elements by a distance.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The thermoelectric material of claim 3, wherein the conduction path is extended to surround each surface of the two or more adjacent thermoelectric elements.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The thermoelectric material of claim 1, wherein the conductive material is included in an amount of about 0.01 weight percent to about 30 weight percent based on a total weight of the thermoelectric material.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The thermoelectric material of claim 1, wherein the conductive material has a greater electrical conductivity than the thermoelectric inorganic material.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The thermoelectric material of claim 1, wherein the metal oxide comprises at least one of RuO2, MnO2, ReO2, VO2, OsO2, TaO2, IrO2, NbO2, WO2, GaO2, MoO2, InO2, CrO2, and RhO2.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The thermoelectric material of claim 1, wherein the metal boride comprises at least one of Ta3B4, Nb3B4, TaB, NbB, V3B4, and VB.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The thermoelectric material of claim 1, wherein the metal carbide comprises at least one of Dy2C and Ho2C.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The thermoelectric material of claim 1, wherein the chalcogenide comprises at least one of AuTe2, PdTe2, PtTe2, YTe3, CuTe2, NiTe2, IrTe2, PrTe3, NdTe3, SmTe3, GdTe3, TbTe3, DyTe3, HoTe3, ErTe3, CeTe3, Bi2Te3, TiSe2, TiTe2, ZrTe2, HfTe2, TaSe2, TaTe2, NbS2, Hf3Te2, VSe2, VTe2, NbTe2, LaTe2, LaTe3, CeTe2, TiS2, NbS2, and TaS2.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The thermoelectric material of claim 1, wherein the transition metal comprises at least one of Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, a noble metal, and a rare earth element.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The thermoelectric material of claim 11, wherein the noble metal comprises at least one of Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, and Au.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The thermoelectric material of claim 11, wherein the rare earth element comprises at least one of Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

A thermoelectric device, comprising:
a first electrode;
a second electrode; and
the thermoelectric material of claim 1 disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The thermoelectric device of claim 14, wherein the thermoelectric material comprises
a p-type thermoelectric material; and
an n-type thermoelectric material.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

An electronic device, comprising the thermoelectric material of claim 1.