Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The effects of low-level partial cation substitution in Cr<jats:sub>2−<jats:italic>x</jats:italic></jats:sub>M<jats:sub><jats:italic>x</jats:italic></jats:sub>S<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> with M = Ti, V or Sn and <jats:italic>x</jats:italic> = 0.05 and 0.1 have been investigated regarding the long- and short-range crystal structures and thermoelectric properties. All substituted compounds crystallized in the equilibrium phase of Cr<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S<jats:sub>3</jats:sub>, adopting the space group <jats:italic>R</jats:italic><jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$${\overline{\text{3}}}$$</jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">
<mml:mover>
<mml:mtext>3</mml:mtext>
<mml:mo>¯</mml:mo>
</mml:mover>
</mml:math></jats:alternatives></jats:inline-formula>. Electron beam irradiation led to a phase transformation from space group <jats:italic>R</jats:italic><jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$${\overline{\text{3}}}$$</jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">
<mml:mover>
<mml:mtext>3</mml:mtext>
<mml:mo>¯</mml:mo>
</mml:mover>
</mml:math></jats:alternatives></jats:inline-formula> to <jats:italic>P</jats:italic><jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$${\overline{\text{3}}}$$</jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">
<mml:mover>
<mml:mtext>3</mml:mtext>
<mml:mo>¯</mml:mo>
</mml:mover>
</mml:math></jats:alternatives></jats:inline-formula>1<jats:italic>c</jats:italic> with a subsequent appearance of diffuse scattering, indicating short-range ordering of cations in the partially occupied cation layers. Substitution of Cr by V led to a reduction in electrical conductivity and subsequently to a lower thermoelectric performance in comparison to the pristine material. In contrast, substitution with Ti yielded an improvement of the performance due to a higher electrical conductivity and a reasonably high Seebeck coefficient. Both Sn-substituted compounds contained only traces of Sn. Surprisingly, a significant improvement of the electrical conductivities could be observed in comparison to the pristine material as well as the other Cr<jats:sub>2−<jats:italic>x</jats:italic></jats:sub>M<jats:sub><jats:italic>x</jats:italic></jats:sub>S<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> materials.</jats:p>