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Background: A genetic component to familial mitral valve prolapse (MVP) has been proposed for decades. Despite this, very few genes have been linked to MVP. Herein is described a four-generation pedigree with numerous individuals affected with severe MVP, some at strikingly young ages., Methods: A detailed clinical evaluation performed on all affected family members demonstrated a spectrum of MVP morphologies and associated phenotypes., Results: Linkage analysis failed to identify strong candidate loci, but revealed significant regions, which were investigated further using whole-exome sequencing of one of the severely affected family members. Whole-exome sequencing identified variants in this individual that fell within linkage analysis peak regions, but none was an obvious pathogenic candidate. Follow up segregation analysis of all exome-identified variants was performed to genotype other affected and unaffected individuals in the family, but no variants emerged as clear pathogenic candidates. Two notable variants of uncertain significance in candidate genes were identified: p.I1013S in PTPRJ at 11p11.2 and FLYWCH1 p.R540Q at 16p13.3. Neither gene has been previously linked to MVP in humans, although PTPRJ mutant mice display defects in endocardial cushions, which give rise to the cardiac valves. PTPRJ and FLYWCH1 expression was detected in adult human mitral valve cells, and in-silico analysis of these variants suggests they may be deleterious. However, neither variant segregated completely with all of the affected individuals in the family, particularly when 'affected' was broadly defined., Conclusions: While a contributory role for PTPRJ and FLYWCH1 in this family cannot be excluded, the study results underscored the difficulties involved in uncovering the genomic contribution to MVP, even in apparently Mendelian families.

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is common among heart valve disease patients, causing severe mitral regurgitation (MR). Although complications such as cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death are rare, the high prevalence of the condition leads to a significant number of such events. Through next-generation gene sequencing approaches, predisposing genetic components have been shown to play a crucial role in the development of MVP. After the discovery of the X-linked inheritance of filamin A, autosomal inherited genes were identified. In addition, the study of sporadic MVP identified several genes, including DZIP1, TNS1, LMCD1, GLIS1, PTPRJ, FLYWCH, and MMP2. The early screening of these genetic predispositions may help to determine the patient population at risk for severe complications of MVP and impact the timing of reconstructive surgery. Surgical mitral valve repair is an effective treatment option for MVP, resulting in excellent short- and long-term outcomes. Repair rates in excess of 95% and low complication rates have been consistently reported for minimally invasive mitral valve repair performed in high-volume centers. We therefore conceptualize a potential preventive surgical strategy for the treatment of MVP in patients with genetic predisposition, which is currently not considered in guideline recommendations. Further genetic studies on MVP pathology and large prospective clinical trials will be required to support such an approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bi2Te3 family has been considered a state‐of‐the‐art thermoelectric material for room‐temperature applications for over half a century. However, scarcity of the material Te has been a persistent issue. Recently, the discovery of n‐type Mg3(Bi, Sb)2‐based materials provides new hope for replacing traditional Bi2Te3, but their thermoelectric properties near room temperature still need improvement for application to practical devices. Herein, a competitive figure of merit of ≈0.8 at 300 K and a high power factor greater than 30 µW cm−1 K−2 at 300 K in n‐type Mg3.14Mn0.06Bi1.4Sb0.59Se0.01 is reported, benefiting from the rationally tuned carrier concentration of 2.29×1019 cm−3 at room temperature. Substituting the Mg site with Mn in Mg3.2Bi1.4Sb0.59Se0.01 changes the dominant carrier scattering mechanism from a mixed scattering of acoustic phonons and ionized impurities to acoustic phonon scattering. Mn doping in Mg3.2Bi1.4Sb0.59Se0.01 also enhances the mobility to 180 cm2 V−1 s−1, reduces the thermal conductivity, and significantly increases the quality factor β of the material. The high room temperature thermoelectric performance of n‐type Mn&Se co‐doped Mg3(Bi, Sb)2‐based materials makes them a highly competitive substitute for commercialized n‐type Bi2Te3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ag-doped Mg3Sb2 crystals are successfully grown via a directional solidification method with high temperature gradient. The microstructure of the crystal is homogeneous and without precipitation. Both electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient are anisotropic in two crystallographic directions ([001] and [101]) due to anisotropic effective mass and mobility of the carriers. Thermal conductivity is isotropic too, and the maximum Seebeck coefficient is 265 μV K−1 in the [001] orientation, which represents a substantial improvement over previous results. As a consequence, the maximum power factor for the 2.5 at. % Ag-doped crystal is 1.21 mW m−1 K−2 in the [001] orientation, which results in an elevated ZT of 0.67 at T = 800 K. First principles calculations and Hall measurements are used to verify the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hexagonal ABC semiconductors with a polar structure are potential candidates for piezoelectric applications. The intriguing negative longitudinal piezoelectric effect (NLPE) and electric auxetic effect (EAE) may exist in these materials, and establishing the structure–property relation provides physical insights into the underlying mechanisms responsible for these phenomena. In this work, using first-principles calculations, we investigate the piezoelectric response in a class of hexagonal AIBIVCV (A = Li, Na, and K; B = Ge and Sn; C = N, P, As, and Sb) semiconductors. We demonstrate that the quasi-layered structure with contrasting interlayer and intralayer bonding strengths plays a crucial role in the longitudinal piezoelectric response. In this class of materials, we identify 11 compounds out of the 24 candidates possessing the NLPE. We find that the NLPE tends to occur when the quasi-layered structure is pronounced. Moreover, we identify an unusual coexistence of negative longitudinal and transverse piezoelectric responses, and hence the compounds possessing the NLPE are electric auxetic materials as well. This work provides a simple guide for the search of piezoelectrics with desired responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnesium antimonide (Mg3Sb2) is a promising thermoelectric compound utilized for thermoelectric power generation. We have found out that the Mg3Sb2 compound can be made from Mg and Sb powder mixture via the combustion synthesizing reaction. In this study, we manufactured the compounds from the compacted bodies with different Mg fractions between 60.0 and 75.0 at% in an argon gas flow at 650°C for 1 hour via the combustion synthesis process. Morphology, porosity, phases and thermoelectric properties (electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient at room temperature to 500°C) were investigated for the manufactured samples. All samples manufactured with different Mg fractions mainly consisted of Mg3Sb2 and became foamed bodies with a porosity between 50 and 70%. The thermoelectric properties changed with the Mg fraction. The maximum power factor of 42.1µW/mK2 at 488°C was obtained in the foamed body with the Mg fraction of 64 at%. The dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) of the sample was also estimated using the thermal conductivity, which was calculated considering its large porosity. The maximum dimensionless figure of merit (ZTmax) would be 0.13 at 488°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bismuth is the most common alloying element for high‐performance Mg3Sb2‐based thermoelectric compounds. However, the electrical and thermal transport data is lacking for undoped Mg3(Sb, Bi)2 solid solutions. In this study, theoretical calculation results show that Bi alloying can reduce the band gap of Mg3Sb2, favoring the regulation of carrier concentration. Both Mg3Sb2 and Mg3SbBi compounds present a single band structure on the valence band maximum at Γ of the Brillouin zone. Incorporating the Bi element can slightly increase the density of states (DOS) on the valence band maximum, which is beneficial for the Seebeck coefficient. Mg3Sb2‐xBix (0≤x≤0.8) compounds were experimentally prepared via ball milling (BM) combined with the spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. The carrier concentration, electrical conductivity, and power factor of the samples tend to increase with the increasing Bi content. Bismuth alloying significantly reduces the total thermal conductivity in the low‐temperature range, with the lowest value of 0.65 Wm−1K−1 obtained at ∼400 K for the x=0.2 sample. The peak ZT value of 0.077 at 800 K and the average ZT of 0.051 in the temperature range of 450–800 K are obtained for the x=0.2 sample, which is 93% and 219% higher than those of the unalloyed sample, respectively. This work reveals the Bi‐alloying induced transport mechanism and provides fundamental thermoelectric data regarding the undoped Mg3Sb2‐xBix (0≤x≤0.8) solid solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently discovered Zintl compound Yb10MnSb9 is a thermoelectric material very close in compositional space to high performing thermoelectric materials such as Yb14MnSb11 and Yb21Mn4Sb18. Here we measure and report electronic and thermal transport data for Yb10MnSb9 up to 825 K. Due to the complicated crystal structure, this material has ultralow thermal conductivity. The ultralow lattice thermal conductivity in conjunction with a higher Seebeck coefficient than in other Yb–Mn–Sb compounds, leads to a moderate zT of about 0.34 at 825 K and is likely to peak at a higher value via material optimization. We approximate a bandgap of about 0.4 eV and expect the zT to be able to reach values as high as 0.33 at 725 K (which is comparable to Yb14MnSb11 at that temperature) using a thermoelectric quality factor analysis. This zT has the potential to reach even higher values by improving the quality factor, B, through grain boundary engineering. Here we provide suggestions for future studies to improve thermoelectric performance. This work is the first report of thermal conductivity, bandgap, and zT for this Yb10MnSb9 compound, and we discuss implications of this material for future thermoelectric study through comparisons to the leading Yb14MnSb11 material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical and thermoelectric (TE) properties for n-type Ag8SnSe6 and (Ag1-xNbx)8SnSe6 are investigated. Ag8SnSe6 has the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) close to 1.1 at 803K due to its intrinsic ultralow thermal conductivity ~0:3Wm-1K-1, relativelyμow resistivity ~0.01 X cm, and high Seebeck coefficient ~-200μV/K. The ZT for pure Ag8SnSe6 drops to 0.02 at room temperature due to itsμarge resistivity. Niobium doping increases the carrier concentration nearly 10 times and thus enhances its ZT to 0.11 at room temperature. Ag8SnSe6 is a promising n-type candidate of TE materials which needs further elaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnesium antimonide (Mg3Sb2) is a promising thermoelectric compound utilized for thermoelectric power generation. We have found out that the Mg3Sb2 compound can be made from Mg and Sb powder mixture via the combustion synthesizing reaction. In this study, we manufactured the compounds from the compacted bodies with a different Mg fraction between 60.0 and 75.0 at% in an argon gas flow at 650°C for 1 hour via the combustion synthesis process. Morphology, porosity, phases and thermoelectric properties (electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient at room temperature to 500°C) were investigated for the manufactured samples. All samples manufactured with different Mg fractions were mainly consisted of Mg3Sb2 and became foamed bodies with a porosity between 50 and 70%. The thermoelectric properties changed with the Mg fraction. The maximum power factor of 42.1 μW/mK² at 488°C was obtained in the foamed body with the Mg fraction of 64 at%. The dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) of the sample was also estimated using the thermal conductivity, which was calculated considering its large porosity. The maximum dimensionless figure of merit (ZTmax) would be 0.13 at 488°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elemental Te, as a promising mid-temperature thermoelectric material, has drawn much attention due to its distinctive band nestification and complex crystal structure. However, the poor doping efficiency and concomitant charge carrier scattering caused by the single doping/alloying method make it a challenging task to further optimize the thermoelectric performance. Herein, we demonstrate a multicomponent alloying strategy through introducing SmSe2 into a p-type Te matrix to realize the synergistic manipulation of carrier and phonon transport. This process has the following multi-functional effects: (i) precisely tuning the hole concentration to cover the optimal level; (ii) effectively weakening the reduced carrier mobility to maintain a high power factor, especially at elevated temperature; (iii) forming multi-dimensional lattice defects to enable a broad-frequency phonon scattering and consequently a noticeable suppression of lattice thermal conductivity; and (iv) improving the mechanical stability due to the pinning of dislocations. Ultimately, a high peak figure of merit zT of ∼1.06 at 600 K and an average zT as high as 0.69 (between 300 and 600 K) are achieved in Te0.985Sb0.015–2%SmSe2. The present work not only enriches the fundamental understanding on elemental Te, but also points to a new paradigm for advancing Te-related thermoelectrics with an intrinsically low thermal conductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high conduction band degeneracy (Nv = 6) leads to an extraordinary figure of merit (zT) in n-type Mg3Sb2 thermoelectrics, while the p-type ones show a much inferior zT due to its lower Nv of only 1 owing to the large energy offset (ΔE ∼ 0.4 eV) between the two valence bands. The derivatives of Mg3Sb2, ternary AB2C2 (A = Eu, Yb, Ca, Sr, Ba; B = Mg, Zn, Cd; C = Sb, Bi) Zintls, show a similar valence band structure but with a much smaller ΔE of <0.2 eV, leading to potential convergence of both valence bands for a high overall Nv of 3. This band feature promotes AB2C2 ternaries to be potential p-type thermoelectrics matching with n-type Mg3Sb2 for efficient thermoelectric applications, thus motivating the current work focusing on p-type EuMg2Sb2 thermoelectrics. Interestingly, Na-doping at the Eu site is found to be particularly effective for creating dense in-grain dislocations, which results in a remarkable reduction in lattice thermal conductivity to ∼0.5 W m−1 K−1. Moreover, Na-doping increases the hole concentration up to 6.0 × 1019 cm−3, leading to an effective involvement of multiple transporting valence bands. The synergistic effects of dense dislocations and multi-band transport, both enabled by Na-doping, led EuMg2Sb2 to show the highest zT among known doped p-type ternary AMg2C2 Zintl thermoelectrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work reports the electrical and thermal transport processes in p-type Pb-doped Mg3(1+x)Sb2−yPby (0.02 ≤ x ≤ 0.08; 0 ≤ y ≤ 0.02) compounds. Low-energy electron acceptor defects Mg vacancies are easy to form, which can provide holes and make p-type transport in the Mg3Sb2 matrix. However, with an increase in excess Mg, the transport behavior changes from p type to n type as manifested synergistically by both the Hall coefficient and Seebeck coefficient. This indicates the effective role of Mg in tuning carrier type and concentration for a pristine Mg3Sb2 compound. Upon substitution of Sb by Pb, the hole concentration slightly increases, and mobility is greatly improved by 133% at room temperature. The significant increase in mobility is attributed to the weakening ionized impurity scattering, stemming from the decreasing concentration induced by Pb doping. Thus, the power factor is enhanced with a 146% improvement at room temperature. Consequently, the figure of merit ZT of the Pb-doped sample is 1.8 times larger than the pristine one at around 300 K. Moreover, the non-degenerate transport behavior revealed by electrical properties is simply analyzed regarding the effects of minority carriers on the overall Seebeck coefficient. This study proposes a new strategy of charge compensation for improving mobility and a simple way to guide the prediction about the onset of bipolar conduction for Mg3Sb2-based compounds and other potential thermoelectric materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal stability of the p-type Mg2.985Ag0.015Sb2 material with reported good thermoelectric performance is systematically investigated using powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). Rietveld refinements were performed to extract the quantitative compositional and structural information from PXRD data. For both densified bulk samples and powdered samples of Mg2.985Ag0.015Sb2 studied under vacuum, a secondary phase, Sb, appears upon the first heating process at temperatures above 500 K, but the amount of the Sb phase stabilizes in subsequent thermal cycles. This is consistent with the good repeatability of the electrical resistivity data after the first cycle measurement, and it indicates that the appearance of the Sb phase does not result in structural decomposition or degradation of the thermoelectric properties. To investigate the effect of the Mg vacancy concentration on the formation of the secondary Sb phase, Mg3.5−xAgxSb2 (x = 0 and 0.015) samples with nominal excess Mg were synthesized and characterized. Compared with Mg2.985Ag0.015Sb2, it is found that Mg3.5−xAgxSb2 (x = 0.015) shows no Sb phase appearing for the bulk sample after heat treatment, and only a small amount of Sb emerges in the powdered sample. This reveals that decreasing the Mg deficiency is beneficial for reducing the amount of emerging Sb secondary phase. In addition, there is less Sb appearing in the Ag-doped powder sample of Mg3.5−xAgxSb2 (x = 0.015) than the undoped Mg3.5Sb2 powder sample, indicating that Ag doping at the Mg sites can inhibit the appearance of the Sb phase to some extent. Our work implies that the emergence of the Sb phase is unlikely due to the decomposition of the Mg3Sb2 structure and can be hindered by reducing the Mg deficiency or Ag doping on the Mg sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mg3Sb2-based Zintl compounds are potential thermoelectric materials for power generation due to their earth-abundant component elements. Pure Mg3Sb2, however, exhibits an intrinsically low p-type carrier concentration at room temperature. Density functional theory calculations of p-type Mg3Sb2 suggest that the carrier density can be tuned by doping at the Mg sites without significant modification of the valence bands, and the optimal doping concentration is predicted to be 4.0 × 1019 cm−3. Herein we have successfully synthesized Ag-doped Mg3Sb2 samples by a one-step spark plasma sintering method. All Ag-doped samples display an increased carrier concentration and enhanced Hall mobility relative to the undoped sample, leading to a significant decrease in the electrical resistivity. As a result of simultaneous improvements in the power factor and thermal conductivity, the zT values of the Ag-doped samples are strongly enhanced; an optimum value of 0.51 at 725 K in Mg2.985Ag0.015Sb2 is achieved, which is a factor of 2.4 larger than that of the undoped sample. The average zT is estimated to be 0.21 in Mg2.985Ag0.015Sb2, which is superior to the previous report on Na-doped Mg3Sb2. Thus, Ag-doped Mg3Sb2 is a promising candidate for intermediate-temperature power generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing thermoelectric materials with high ZT revolves around various processing techniques, such as doping, substitution chemistry, and band structure engineering near the Fermi level due to embedded nanoscale precipitates and/or quantum dots, and more recently introduced compositionally alloyed hierarchically organized microstructures. In this work, we have extended atomic scale structural engineering combined with an overarching panoscopic approach enabling the development of hierarchically organized microstructures at multiple length scales to Hf-free p-type half-Heusler thermoelectric materials for the first time. A series of compositions ZrCo1+xSb0.9Sn0.1 have been synthesized employing a fast processing technique of arc melting followed by conventional hot pressing revealing composites of half-Heusler (HH) and full-Heusler (FH) at multiple length scales. Such microstructural modifications at various length scales lead to controlled tuning of the hole density, effective mass and band engineering. Interestingly, a simultaneous large enhancement of the power factor (72%＞) and a reduction in thermal conductivity (30%＞) of the resulting ZrCo1+xSb0.9Sn0.1 composites were observed. The enhancement in the power factor was primarily due to the increased Seebeck coefficient which resulted from a reduction in the effective hole carrier density via low energy electron filtering coupled with an increase in the hole carrier's effective mass (m*) due to band off-set minimization. The reduction in thermal conductivity can be ascribed to the enhanced phonon scattering by different frequency heat-carrying phonons due to various grain sizes at multiple length scales, such unique specific design strategies of materials described here result in superior thermoelectric properties which have been compared with several state-of-the-art p-type half Heusler materials. The Bergman–Fel model is used to calculate the effective thermoelectric parameters of these composites for comparing the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent years, several Cys2-His2 (C2H2) domain-containing proteins have emerged as critical players in repairing DNA-double strand breaks. Human FLYWCH1 is a newly characterised nuclear transcription factor with (C2H2)-type zinc-finger DNA-binding domains. Yet, our knowledge about FLYWCH1 is still in its infancy. This study explores the expression, role and regulation of FLYWCH1 in the context of DNA damage and repair. We provide evidence suggesting a potential contribution of FLYWCH1 in facilitating the recruitment of DNA-damage response proteins (DDRPs). We found that FLYWCH1 colocalises with γH2AX in normal fibroblasts and colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines. Importantly, our results showed that enforced expression of FLYWCH1 induces the expression of γH2AX, ATM and P53 proteins. Using an ATM-knockout (ATMKO) model, we indicated that FLYWCH1 mediates the phosphorylation of H2AX (Ser139) independently to ATM expression. On the other hand, the induction of DNA damage using UV-light induces the endogenous expression of FLYWCH1. Conversely, cisplatin treatment reduces the endogenous level of FLYWCH1 in CRC cell lines. Together, our findings uncover a novel FLYWCH1/H2AX phosphorylation axis in steady-state conditions and during the induction of the DNA-damage response (DDR). Although the role of FLYWCH1 within the DDR machinery remains largely uncharacterised and poorly understood, we here report for the first-time findings that implicate FLYWCH1 as a potential participant in the DNA damage response signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Se‐doped Mg3.2Sb1.5Bi0.5‐based thermoelectric materials are revisited in this study. An increased ZT value ≈1.4 at about 723 K is obtained in Mg3.2Sb1.5Bi0.49Se0.01 with optimized carrier concentration ≈1.9 × 1019 cm−3. Based on this composition, Co and Mn are incorporated for the manipulation of the carrier scattering mechanism, which are beneficial to the dramatically enhanced electrical conductivity and power factor around room temperature range. Combined with the lowered lattice thermal conductivity due to the introduction of effective phonon scattering centers in Se&Mn‐codoped sample, a highest room temperature ZT value ≈0.63 and a peak ZT value ≈1.70 at 623 K are achieved for Mg3.15Mn0.05Sb1.5Bi0.49Se0.01, leading to a high average ZT≈1.33 from 323 to 673 K. In particular, a remarkable average ZT≈1.18 between the temperature of 323 and 523 K is achieved, suggesting the competitive substitution for the commercialized n‐type Bi2Te3‐based thermoelectric materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mg3Sb2 shows poor comprehensive thermoelectric properties mainly because its conductivity is very poor, despite it has very low thermal conductivity. Excess Mg combined with small amount of Te doping can control carrier type and carrier concentration. The semiconductor and metallic transport mechanism coordinate to control the electrical transport characteristics and improve the electrical transport performance. The lattice thermal conductivity of Mg3Sb2 decreases after Te doping. The maximum ZT value is 0.78 for Mg3.2Sb1.99Te0.01 at 773 K. Excess Mg combined with Te doping can not only change the transport properties of Mg3Sb2 from p‐type to n‐type but also improve the power factor and thermal conductivity of Mg3Sb2. A peak ZT = 0.78 at 773 K has been realized in Mg3.2Sb1.99Te0.01 which indicates that excess Mg and Te doping are effective in improving thermoelectric performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past couple of decades, thermoelectric Mg3Sb2 and its derivatives have attracted increasing attention for thermoelectric applications. This is enabled by the richness in composition for manipulating both electronic and thermal properties and by the intrinsic low lattice thermal conductivity. With existing efforts on these materials, the thermoelectric figure of merit has been significantly improved to compete with conventional thermoelectrics, while many of these materials keep the compositions cheap and less‐toxic elements only. Here, not only the control of defects, band structure, electronic transport properties, and lattice thermal conductivity for these materials, but also the proven strategies on transport property manipulation are summarized. These strategies are well demonstrated for advancing thermoelectric Mg3Sb2 and its derivatives, and the principles used are believed to be equally applicable for many other thermoelectric materials. In addition, perspectives for possible further advancements in this class of thermoelectric materials are shown. Stemming from the intrinsic low lattice thermal conductivity and the richness in composition and band structures, n‐type Mg3Sb2 and its derivatives p‐type AB2C2 materials have successfully been advanced to show a promising thermoelectric figure of merit zT as high as ≈1.6 and ≈1.2, respectively. A summary of the control of defects, band structure, electronic transport properties, and lattice thermal conductivity for these materials, as well as proven strategies on transport property manipulation is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent discovery of a high thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) in an n-type Mg3Sb2-based Zintl phase triggered an intense research effort to pursue even higher ZT. Based on our previous report on Mg3.1Nb0.1Sb1.5Bi0.49Te0.01, we report here that partial texturing in the (001) plane is achieved by double hot pressing, which is further confirmed by the rocking curves of the (002) plane. The textured samples of Mg3.1Nb0.1Sb1.5Bi0.49Te0.01 show a much better average performance in the (00l) plane. Hall mobility is significantly improved to ∼105 cm2 V−1 s−1 at room temperature in the (00l) plane due to texturing, resulting in higher electrical conductivity, a higher power factor of ∼18 μW cm−1 K−2 at room temperature, and also higher average ZT. This work shows that texturing is good for higher thermoelectric performance, suggesting that single crystals of n-type Mg3Sb2-based Zintl compounds are worth pursuing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]