Effect of Precursor Solution Aging on the Thermoelectric Performance of CsSnI3 Thin Film

Abstract

Inorganic CsSnI3 based perovskite crystals are interesting thermoelectric materials, owing to their unusual electronic properties. Here we report the thermoelectric power performance of a solution-coated CsSnI3 thin film from the viewpoint of carrier concentration optimizations. It was found that the carrier concentration can be changed by altering the aging time of the precursor solution. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that the concentration of metallic Sn4+ increased as the solution aging time increased. This made possible to explore the relationship between carrier concentration and thermoelectric power factor. After controlling Sn4+ concentrations, we report a power factor of 145.10 μW m−1 K−2 , along with electrical conductivity 106 S/cm and Seebeck coefficient of 117 μV/K, measured at room temperature.