First-principles study of disordered half-Heusler alloys \textit{X}Fe$_{0.5}$Ni$_{0.5}$Sn (\textit{X} = Nb, Ta) as thermoelectric prospects

Abstract

High lattice thermal conductivity in half-Heusler alloys has been the major bottleneck in thermoelectric applications. Disordered half-Heusler alloys could be a plausible alternative to this predicament. In this paper, utilizing first-principles simulations, we have demonstrated the low lattice thermal conductivity in two such phases, NbFe$_{0.5}$Ni$_{0.5}$Sn and TaFe$_{0.5}$Ni$_{0.5}$Sn, in comparison to well-known half-Heusler alloy TiCoSb. We trace the low thermal conductivity to their short phonon lifetime, originating from the interaction among acoustic and low-lying optical phonons. We recommend nanostructuring as an effective route in further diminishing the lattice thermal conductivity. We further predict that these alloys can be best used in the temperature range 400-600~K and carrier concentration of less than 10$^{21}$ carriers cm$^{-3}$. We found $\sim$35\% and $\sim$17\% enhancement in $ZT$ for NbFe$_{0.5}$Ni$_{0.5}$Sn and TaFe$_{0.5}$Ni$_{0.5}$Sn, respectively, as compared to TiCoSb. We are optimistic of the findings and believe these materials would attract experimental investigations.