Degradation of BiTeCl induced by thermal and laser treatment
Abstract This study examines the thermal stability and structural behavior of bismuth chloride telluride BiTeCl, a layered thermoelectric material with significant potential for energy conversion applications. Our investigations reveal that the chlorine-terminated surface exhibits poorer quality and...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00907-5 |
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| author | Wojciech Ryś Iaroslav Lutsyk Karol Szałowski Maxime Le Ster Maciej Rogala Michał Piskorski Paweł Krukowski Paweł Dąbrowski Rafał Dunal Aleksandra Nadolska Przemysław Przybysz Klaudia Toczek Witold Kozłowski Paweł J. Kowalczyk |
| author_facet | Wojciech Ryś Iaroslav Lutsyk Karol Szałowski Maxime Le Ster Maciej Rogala Michał Piskorski Paweł Krukowski Paweł Dąbrowski Rafał Dunal Aleksandra Nadolska Przemysław Przybysz Klaudia Toczek Witold Kozłowski Paweł J. Kowalczyk |
| author_sort | Wojciech Ryś |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract This study examines the thermal stability and structural behavior of bismuth chloride telluride BiTeCl, a layered thermoelectric material with significant potential for energy conversion applications. Our investigations reveal that the chlorine-terminated surface exhibits poorer quality and increased defectivity compared to the tellurium-terminated side. The crystals were subjected to thermal annealing up to 520 K and green laser irradiation. Through techniques such as low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), we found that while annealing enhances the crystallinity of the chlorine side up to 470 K, it ultimately suffers from thermal degradation above this temperature. The event leads to transformation into bismuth telluride - Bi2Te3 characterized by a lower BE shift of the Bi and Te bands by ~ 0.35 eV. The identity of the product was later confirmed via Raman spectroscopy while irradiating it with little laser power. With an increase in the power to 3.1 mW, it was however observed that the samples become locally modified undergoing similar degradation as during the annealing. The research demonstrates and characterizes the phenomena occurring during the decomposition either via irradiation or annealing. The explanation of such phenomena is then proposed based on the results of our theoretical DFT calculations. Additionally, we assess the usefulness of BiTeCl as a thermoelectric material, compare it in regard to the literature, and suggest new potential applications that may benefit from the transformation into Bi2Te3. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-c7446ae7a5db4e008d043f1b5b7ecfaa2025-08-20T01:49:44ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-05-011511810.1038/s41598-025-00907-5Degradation of BiTeCl induced by thermal and laser treatmentWojciech Ryś0Iaroslav Lutsyk1Karol Szałowski2Maxime Le Ster3Maciej Rogala4Michał Piskorski5Paweł Krukowski6Paweł Dąbrowski7Rafał Dunal8Aleksandra Nadolska9Przemysław Przybysz10Klaudia Toczek11Witold Kozłowski12Paweł J. Kowalczyk13Department of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzDepartment of Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Informatics, University of LodzAbstract This study examines the thermal stability and structural behavior of bismuth chloride telluride BiTeCl, a layered thermoelectric material with significant potential for energy conversion applications. Our investigations reveal that the chlorine-terminated surface exhibits poorer quality and increased defectivity compared to the tellurium-terminated side. The crystals were subjected to thermal annealing up to 520 K and green laser irradiation. Through techniques such as low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), we found that while annealing enhances the crystallinity of the chlorine side up to 470 K, it ultimately suffers from thermal degradation above this temperature. The event leads to transformation into bismuth telluride - Bi2Te3 characterized by a lower BE shift of the Bi and Te bands by ~ 0.35 eV. The identity of the product was later confirmed via Raman spectroscopy while irradiating it with little laser power. With an increase in the power to 3.1 mW, it was however observed that the samples become locally modified undergoing similar degradation as during the annealing. The research demonstrates and characterizes the phenomena occurring during the decomposition either via irradiation or annealing. The explanation of such phenomena is then proposed based on the results of our theoretical DFT calculations. Additionally, we assess the usefulness of BiTeCl as a thermoelectric material, compare it in regard to the literature, and suggest new potential applications that may benefit from the transformation into Bi2Te3.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00907-5BiTeClBi2Te3Thermal degradationLaser-induced degradationThermoelectric materialsExfoliation energy |
| spellingShingle | Wojciech Ryś Iaroslav Lutsyk Karol Szałowski Maxime Le Ster Maciej Rogala Michał Piskorski Paweł Krukowski Paweł Dąbrowski Rafał Dunal Aleksandra Nadolska Przemysław Przybysz Klaudia Toczek Witold Kozłowski Paweł J. Kowalczyk Degradation of BiTeCl induced by thermal and laser treatment Scientific Reports BiTeCl Bi2Te3 Thermal degradation Laser-induced degradation Thermoelectric materials Exfoliation energy |
| title | Degradation of BiTeCl induced by thermal and laser treatment |
| title_full | Degradation of BiTeCl induced by thermal and laser treatment |
| title_fullStr | Degradation of BiTeCl induced by thermal and laser treatment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Degradation of BiTeCl induced by thermal and laser treatment |
| title_short | Degradation of BiTeCl induced by thermal and laser treatment |
| title_sort | degradation of bitecl induced by thermal and laser treatment |
| topic | BiTeCl Bi2Te3 Thermal degradation Laser-induced degradation Thermoelectric materials Exfoliation energy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00907-5 |
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