Yao Zhang, Hongtao Wang, Zhongtao Lu, Zifeng Li, Pengfei Wen, Xiaobin Feng, Guodong Li, Bo Duan, Pengcheng Zhai
{"title":"Effect of Ag Vacancies on the Mechanical Properties of Ag2S Thermoelectric Semiconductor","authors":"Yao Zhang, Hongtao Wang, Zhongtao Lu, Zifeng Li, Pengfei Wen, Xiaobin Feng, Guodong Li, Bo Duan, Pengcheng Zhai","doi":"10.1007/s40195-025-01836-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Ag vacancies have been shown to regulate the thermoelectric properties of Ag<sub>2</sub>S. However, their effect on the mechanical properties of Ag<sub>2</sub>S remains unclear. In this study, Ag<sub>2</sub>S-based samples with various Ag vacancy concentration were prepared, and their mechanical properties were investigated experimentally and theoretically. Both the bending strength and fracture strain decrease with increasing Ag vacancy concentration. Moreover, the dimple size on the fracture surfaces of the samples gradually reduces with increasing Ag vacancy concentration, further confirming the reduction in material ductility. Density functional theory results reveal that Ag vacancies lead to the disruption of Ag–S bonds in Ag<sub>2</sub>S at low ultimate strains, consequently causing a simultaneous reduction in both strength and deformability, which agrees reasonably well with the experimental observations. This work provides new insights into the effect of vacancies on the mechanical properties of Ag<sub>2</sub>S materials, which could guide the design of fast ionic thermoelectric materials.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":457,"journal":{"name":"Acta Metallurgica Sinica-English Letters","volume":"38 5","pages":"869 - 875"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Acta Metallurgica Sinica-English Letters","FirstCategoryId":"1","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40195-025-01836-y","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"METALLURGY & METALLURGICAL ENGINEERING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Ag vacancies have been shown to regulate the thermoelectric properties of Ag2S. However, their effect on the mechanical properties of Ag2S remains unclear. In this study, Ag2S-based samples with various Ag vacancy concentration were prepared, and their mechanical properties were investigated experimentally and theoretically. Both the bending strength and fracture strain decrease with increasing Ag vacancy concentration. Moreover, the dimple size on the fracture surfaces of the samples gradually reduces with increasing Ag vacancy concentration, further confirming the reduction in material ductility. Density functional theory results reveal that Ag vacancies lead to the disruption of Ag–S bonds in Ag2S at low ultimate strains, consequently causing a simultaneous reduction in both strength and deformability, which agrees reasonably well with the experimental observations. This work provides new insights into the effect of vacancies on the mechanical properties of Ag2S materials, which could guide the design of fast ionic thermoelectric materials.
期刊介绍:
This international journal presents compact reports of significant, original and timely research reflecting progress in metallurgy, materials science and engineering, including materials physics, physical metallurgy, and process metallurgy.