TY - JOUR
T1 - Anodic protection enables moisture-stable Mg3(Sb, Bi)2 for thermoelectric cooling
AU - Yu, Zhiyuan
AU - Sun, Yuxin
AU - Wu, Haijun
AU - Guo, Fengkai
AU - Hu, Jin
AU - Liu, Ming
AU - Zhou, Xianghong
AU - Wu, Hao
AU - Hu, Jinsuo
AU - Wang, Lankun
AU - Zhu, Yuke
AU - Tong, Haoyang
AU - Zhu, Jianbo
AU - Liu, Zihang
AU - Cai, Wei
AU - Liu, Weishu
AU - Sui, Jiehe
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.
PY - 2026
Y1 - 2026
N2 - Mg3(Sb, Bi)2 is the most promising candidate as a next-generation thermoelectric cooling material; however, its application is bottlenecked by poor moisture stability. We demonstrate a protection strategy for Mg3(Sb, Bi)2 by constructing anodic phases that are preferentially corroded to protect the cathodic material matrix, as enabled by the in situ formation of uniformly distributed multiscale anodic phases based on a large Pilling–Bedworth ratio, low equilibrium potential, high chemical inertness and rapid oxide/hydroxide coverage ability. Mg17Al12 preferentially corrodes and promotes the formation of a protective film, reducing the average corrosion rate of Mg3(Sb, Bi)2 by 92% to ~95 μm year−1 in air and 86% to ~0.36 μm h−1 in water, achieving excellent corrosion resistance. The cooling performance of the fabricated module is comparable with that of commercial bismuth telluride modules at 300 K, and exceeds them at 325 K and 350 K. Meanwhile, no performance degradation is observed after 28-day aging at 350 K and 70% relative humidity. Our study addresses the issues of moisture stability of Mg3(Sb, Bi)2 during storage, processing and application, and could be extended to other aqueous vapour-sensitive materials.
AB - Mg3(Sb, Bi)2 is the most promising candidate as a next-generation thermoelectric cooling material; however, its application is bottlenecked by poor moisture stability. We demonstrate a protection strategy for Mg3(Sb, Bi)2 by constructing anodic phases that are preferentially corroded to protect the cathodic material matrix, as enabled by the in situ formation of uniformly distributed multiscale anodic phases based on a large Pilling–Bedworth ratio, low equilibrium potential, high chemical inertness and rapid oxide/hydroxide coverage ability. Mg17Al12 preferentially corrodes and promotes the formation of a protective film, reducing the average corrosion rate of Mg3(Sb, Bi)2 by 92% to ~95 μm year−1 in air and 86% to ~0.36 μm h−1 in water, achieving excellent corrosion resistance. The cooling performance of the fabricated module is comparable with that of commercial bismuth telluride modules at 300 K, and exceeds them at 325 K and 350 K. Meanwhile, no performance degradation is observed after 28-day aging at 350 K and 70% relative humidity. Our study addresses the issues of moisture stability of Mg3(Sb, Bi)2 during storage, processing and application, and could be extended to other aqueous vapour-sensitive materials.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105034668813
U2 - 10.1038/s41563-026-02563-0
DO - 10.1038/s41563-026-02563-0
M3 - 文章
AN - SCOPUS:105034668813
SN - 1476-1122
JO - Nature Materials
JF - Nature Materials
ER -