Magnetic Properties of CuCr1−xLaxS2 Thermoelectric Materials

The magnetic properties (magnetic susceptibility, magnetic moment) and Weiss constant for lanthanum-doped CuCr1−xLaxS2 (x = 0; 0.005; 0.01; 0.015; 0.03) solid solutions were studied using static magnetochemistry at 80–750 K. The samples were characterized by both powder X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. It was shown that synthesized samples are single-phased up to x ≤ 0.01. The presence of the additional phase in the solid solutions with x > 0.015 caused deviation from the simple isovalent Cr3+→Ln3+ cationic substitution principle. It was found that magnetic susceptibility and the Weiss constant are significantly affected by both magnetic properties and lanthanum concentration for the solid solutions doped up to x = 0.01. The largest magnetic moment value of 3.88 µB was measured for the initial CuCrS2-matrix. The lowest value of 3.77 µB was measured for the CuCr0.99La0.01S2 solid solution. The lowest Weiss constant value of −147 K was observed for the initial matrix; the highest one was observed for CuCr0.99La0.01S2 (−139 K). The largest Seebeck coefficient value of 373 µV/K was measured for CuCr0.985La0.015S2 at 500 K; the obtained value was 3.3 times greater compared to the initial CuCrS2-matrix. The field dependence of the magnetic susceptibility allowed one to conclude the absence of ferromagnetic contributions in the total magnetic susceptibility of CuCr1−xLaxS2. The data on magnetic properties can be successfully utilized to investigate the limits of doping atom suitability and order–disorder phase transition temperature in CuCrS2-based solid solutions.