Abstract Scope |
Among the various possibilities offered by the periodic table, copper-rich sulfides represent a formidable source for the discovery of low cost and environmentally benign thermoelectric materials. Copper-rich sulfides form an important class where univalent copper is the dominant element, giving the possibility of creating hole carriers in the conductive “Cu–S” network for the generation of p-type thermoelectrics. During this presentation, recent advances in copper-based sulphide compounds will be discussed. Some peculiar structural features in connection with materials synthesis, chemical bonds, cationic networks, lattice vibration, order/disorder phenomena were carefully examined to establish rules and correlations between the crystal structures, nano-microstructures, electronic structures, vibrational and thermoelectric properties. |