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GeTe-based compounds have been intensively studied recently due to their superior thermoelectric performance, but their real applications are still limited so far due to the drastic volume variation that occurs during the rhombohedral–cubic phase transition, which may break the material or the material/electrode interface during service. Here, superior performance and high service stability for GeTe-based thermoelectric compounds are achieved by co-doping Mg and Sb into GeTe. The linear coefficient of thermal expansion before phase transition is greatly improved to match that after phase transition, yielding smooth volume variation around the phase transition temperature. Likewise, co-doping (Mg, Sb) in GeTe successfully tunes the carrier concentration to the optimal range and effectively suppresses the lattice thermal conductivity. A peak zT of 1.84 at 800 K and an average zT of 1.2 in 300–800 K have been achieved in Ge0.85Mg0.05Sb0.1Te. Finally, a Ni/Ti/Ge0.85Mg0.05Sb0.1Te thermoelectric uni-leg is fabricated and tested, showing quite good service stability even after 450 thermal cycles between 473 K and 800 K. This study will accelerate the application of GeTe-based compounds for power generation in the mid-temperature range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous reports about the thermal conductivities of VO showed various temperature dependences across metal-insulator transition (MIT) temperature. In this work, polycrystalline VO samples were fabricated by spark plasma sintering of VO powder. Temperature dependences of their thermal conductivities were investigated using laser flash technique, and the thermal conductivity showed a significant decrease trend from metal-phase to insulator phase. Electrical transport properties were investigated to confirm both carrier and lattice contribution to the thermal conductivity. It is found that the lattice thermal conductivity decreased significantly across MIT point, which may be caused by soft phonon mode in metal phase of VO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]