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Volume 6 Research & Reviews: Journal of Material Sciences
ISSN: 2321-6212 Materials Physics 2018
August 16-17, 2018
August 16-17, 2018 | London, UK
4th International Conference on
Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Study of anomalous vibrational dynamics in tetrahedrite thermoelectrics by integrated computational
and experimental methods
Wei Lai
Michigan State University, USA
Tetrahedrites with the general compostion of Cu12-x MxSb 4S 13 recently have emerged as promising thermoelectrics with earth-
abundant and environment-friendly elements. While it has been shown that they possess favorable electronic properties
and low lattice thermal conductivity (<1 W m-1 K-1 for a wide temperature range), the vibrational dynamics in this family of
materials is not well-understood. In this talk, we will present some of our integrated computational and experimental efforts to
study anomalous vibrational dynamics in tetrahedrites. We will first show computational results on the electron density, heat
capacity, elastic moduli, and EXAFS spectra that agree with experiments. We will then focus on the role of lone-pair electrons
of Sb on the vibrational dynamics, anomalous “phonon softening upon cooling”, and quasi-localized vibration modes that lead
to low lattice thermal conductivity.
Res. Rev. J Mat. Sci. 2018, Volume 6
DOI: 10.4172/2321-6212-C2-018