Abstract Interface engineering has been regarded as an effective strategy to manipulate the thermoelectric performance of materials. Here, we use a facile chemical electroless plating and a spark plasma sintering process to fabricate Ag-plated SnTe bulk. After sintering, a small amount of plated Ag can be doped into SnTe to suppress the Sn vacancies and the others form Ag precipitates with a size distribution from nanoscale to microscale, which introduces Ag/SnTe interfaces to enhance the Seebeck coefficient via energy filtering effect. Simultaneously, these structures result in strong scattering to reach a low lattice thermal conductivity of ~ 0.62 W·m –1 ·K –1 . Consequently, a maximum figure of merit ( zT ) of ~ 0.67 at 823 K is achieved in 2 wt% Ag-plated SnTe, which is ~ 60% higher than that of pristine SnTe. Moreover, the microhardness indentation test results show that the mean microhardness of 2 wt% Ag-plated SnTe is HV 64.26, which is much higher than that of pristine SnTe, indicating that Ag electroless plating can improve the mechanical properties of SnTe. This work has provided a facile and eco-friendly method to realize the interface engineering for manipulating the thermoelectric and mechanical properties of SnTe. Graphical abstract
Tunable microwave absorbers have gained significant interest due to their capability to actively control microwaves. However, the existing architecture-change-based approach lacks flexibility, and the active-element-based approach is constrained by a narrowband operation or small dynamic modulation range. Here, a novel electrically tunable microwave absorbing device (TMAD) is demonstrated that can achieve dynamic tuning of the average reflection amplitude between −13.0 and −1.2 dB over a broadband range of 8–18 GHz enabled by reversible metal electrodeposition. This reversible tunability is achieved by electrodepositing silver (Ag) layers with controlled morphology on nanoscopic platinum (Pt) films in a device structure similar to a tunable Salisbury screen, employing Ag electrodeposited on Pt films as the modifiable resistive layer. Furthermore, this TMAD possesses a simple device architecture, excellent bistability, and multispectral compatibility. Our approach offers a new strategy for dynamically manipulating microwaves, which has potential utility in intelligent camouflage and communication systems.
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