Enhancing the thermoelectric performance of solution-synthesized SnSe-based materials via incorporating Ti3C2Tx MXene

SnSe-based materials, comprising nontoxic, eco-friendly and abundant elements, have intrinsically low lattice thermal conductivity , which are promising candidates for thermoelectric conversion. However, unmodified, polycrystalline SnSe reveals poor electrical transport properties due to the lower carrier mobility . Herein, two-dimensional Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene has been incorporated into SnSe matrix by solution synthesis and fast consolidation, which efficiently increases the carrier mobility and concentration; accordingly, the electrical conductivity is improved in the temperature range of 323–523 K. Meanwhile, SnSe/Ti 3 C 2 T x composites achieve diminished lattice thermal conductivity, delivering a low value of 0.41 W m −1 K −1 at 773 K. Ultimately, a peak zT of 0.93 at 773 K is attained in SnSe/Ti 3 C 2 T x composite with addition of 0.3 wt% Ti 3 C 2 T x , representing a 66% increase compared to that of SnSe. This work sheds light on the thermoelectric performance improvement of polycrystalline SnSe by controllably incorporating two-dimensional MXene.