<h3>Title</h3>
<h3><span style="font-size: 12.16px;">Chemical Control of Defects for Optimizing Thermoelectric Performance of Lead Telluride</span></h3>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 12.16px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Abstract</span> :</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.16px;">A surprisingly large portion of energy is lost as waste heat every year due to inefficient utilization.<sup>1</sup> Thermoelectric (TE) materials may increase the overall efficiency of our energy utilization by directly converting waste heat to electricity.<sup>2</sup> It is essential to have high efficiency in both p and n type semiconducting materials to achieve a high performance in thermoelectric generators. However, the efficiency of a TE material depends on the dimensionless figure of merit that involves a complex relation between the electronic and thermal properties as stated by the Wiedemann-Franz law.<sup>2</sup> This presents a serious roadblock in the optimization of thermoelectric performance of any material.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.16px;">In this seminar, I will present effective strategies to circumvent this problem in lead telluride (PbTe) which is a benchmark thermoelectric material via chemical control of point defects in the matrix. I will discuss the mechanisms to decouple the electronic and thermal properties of this system. I will further elaborate how these defects affect the electronic band structure of p and n type PbTe leading to modulation of the carrier concentration over a broad temperature range to facilitate high thermoelectric performance.<sup>3,4</sup> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.16px;">In the later part of the seminar, I will discuss my future research plans related to thermal energy harvesting using environment friendly materials and the study of their structure-property correlations. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12.16px;">References</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12.16px;">1. Rattner, A. S.; Garimella S. Energy 2011, 36(10), 6172–6183</span></p>
<p>2. He, J.; Tritt, T. M. Science 2017, 357 (6358), eaak9997</p>
<p>3. Sarkar, S.; Zhang, X.; Hao, S.; Hua, X.; Bailey, T. P.; Uher, C.; Wolverton, C.; Dravid, V.; Kanatzidis, M. G. ACS Energy Lett. 2018, 3 (10), 2593–2601 </p>
<p>4. Sarkar, S.; Hua, X.; Hao, S.; Zhang, X.; Bailey, T. P.; Slade, T. J.; Yasaei, P.; Korkotz, R.; Tan, G.; Uher, C.; Wolverton, C.; Dravid, V. P.; Kanatzidis, M. G. Chem. Mater. 2021, 33, 5, 1842–1851</p>
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