Large Nernst power factor over a broad temperature range in polycrystalline Weyl semimetal NbP

Abstract

The discovery of topological materials has provided new opportunities to exploit advanced materials for heat-to-electricity energy conversion as they share many common characteristics with thermoelectric materials. In this work, we report the magneto-thermoelectric properties and Nernst effect of the topological Weyl semimetal NbP. We find that polycrystalline, bulk NbP shows a significantly larger Nernst thermopower than its conventional thermopower under magnetic field. As a result, a maximum Nernst power factor of ∼35 × 10⁻⁴ W m⁻¹ K⁻² is achieved at 9 T and 136 K, which is 4 times higher than its conventional power factor and is also comparable to that of state-of-the-art thermoelectrics. Moreover, the Nernst power factor maintains relatively large value over a broad temperature range. These results highlight that the enhancement of thermoelectric performance can be achieved in topological semimetals based on the Nernst effect and transverse transport.