Abstract
To achieve optimal thermoelectric performance, it is crucial to manipulate the scattering processes within materials to decouple the transport of phonons and electrons. In half-Heusler (hH) compounds, selective defect reduction can significantly improve performance due to the weak electron-acoustic phonon interaction. This study utilized Sb-pressure controlled annealing process to modulate the microstructure and point defects of Nb(0.55)Ta(0.40)Ti(0.05)FeSb compound, resulting in a 100% increase in carrier mobility and a maximum power factor of 78 µW cm(-1) K(-2), approaching the theoretical prediction for NbFeSb single crystal. This approach yielded the highest average zT of ~0.86 among hH in the temperature range of 300-873 K. The use of this material led to a 210% enhancement in cooling power density compared to Bi(2)Te(3)-based devices and a conversion efficiency of 12%. These results demonstrate a promising strategy for optimizing hH materials for near-room-temperature thermoelectric applications.