Abstract
In this study, nano-sized fullerene C(60) powder was sufficiently mixed with Cu₂SnSe₃ powder by ball milling method, and the C(60)/Cu₂SnSe₃ composites were prepared by spark plasma sintering technology. The fullerene C(60) distributed uniformly in the form of clusters, and the average cluster size was less than 1 μm. With increasing C(60) content, the electrical conductivity of C(60)/Cu₂SnSe₃ composites decreased, while the Seebeck coefficient was enhanced. The thermal conductivity of composites decreased significantly, which resulted from the phonon scattering by the C(60) clusters located on the grain boundaries of the Cu₂SnSe₃ matrix. The highest figure of merit ZT of 0.38 was achieved at 700 K for 0.8% C(60)/Cu₂SnSe₃ composite.