Enhanced figure of merit in nanostructured (Bi,Sb)2Te3 with optimized composition, prepared by a straightforward arc-melting procedure

Sb-doped Bi 2 Te 3 is known since the 1950s as the best thermoelectric material for near-room temperature operation. Improvements in material performance are expected from nanostructuring procedures. We present a straightforward and fast method to synthesize already nanostructured pellets that show...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2017-07, Vol.7 (1), p.1-10, Article 6277
Main Authors: Serrano-Sánchez, F., Gharsallah, M., Nemes, N. M., Biskup, N., Varela, M., Martínez, J. L., Fernández-Díaz, M. T., Alonso, J. A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/301/299/2736
639/766/119/1002
Heat conductivity
Humanities and Social Sciences
Melting
multidisciplinary
Powder
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Structural analysis
Thermal conductivity
Vibrations
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Summary:Sb-doped Bi 2 Te 3 is known since the 1950s as the best thermoelectric material for near-room temperature operation. Improvements in material performance are expected from nanostructuring procedures. We present a straightforward and fast method to synthesize already nanostructured pellets that show an enhanced ZT due to a remarkably low thermal conductivity and unusually high Seebeck coefficient for a nominal composition optimized for arc-melting: Bi 0.35 Sb 1.65 Te 3 . We provide a detailed structural analysis of the Bi 2−x Sb x Te 3 series (0 ≤ x ≤ 2) based on neutron powder diffraction as a function of composition and temperature that reveals the important role played by atomic vibrations. Arc-melting produces layered platelets with less than 50 nm-thick sheets. The low thermal conductivity is attributed to the phonon scattering at the grain boundaries of the nanosheets. This is a fast and cost-effective production method of highly efficient thermoelectric materials.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-05428-4