Issues and opportunities from Peltier effect in functionally-graded colusites: From SPS temperature modeling to enhanced thermoelectric performances

The quaternary sulphide V-Sn colusite, Cu26V2Sn6S32, is one of the most promising cost-efficient thermoelectric materials to date because low toxicity, wide availability and cost composing elements. Recent studies have demonstrated potential this environmentally-friendly material its transport properties are now well understood. In present work, we take next step producing large quantities optimised colusite using industrial-grade precursors investigating effect Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) in production cylindrical pucks up 30 mm diameter 10 thickness. process, identified solved several key issues including generation temperature gradients during SPS, porosity defect formation. radial axial within sample SPS has been modeled modified Fourier Ohm laws confirmed experimentally thanks TSPS-dependent EDS analysis. We demonstrate that with enhanced can be produced a combination High-temperature Isostatic Press (HIP). Overall, our work theoretically demonstrates both homogeneous functionally-graded bulk easily up-scaled through careful control conditions.