Experimental and theoretical study of the thermoelectric properties of copper selenide

The temperature dependences of the specific heat, thermal conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), and transport coefficients (electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power) of copper selenide are experimentally and theoretically investigated in the temperature range of 300–873 K. The calculation results correlate with the experimental data up to a temperature of ~773 K. The maximum thermoelectric figure of merit of nanostructured copper selenide is ZT ~ 1.8. The correlation dependence between ZT and the thermal conductivity within the entire temperature range under consideration is shown.