Structure and thermoelectric properties of nanocomposite bismuth telluride prepared by melt spinning or by partially alloying with IV–VI compounds

Abstract

Bismuth telluride samples are compared with respect to the evolution of their thermoelectric material parameters like thermal and electrical conductivity. The Seebeck coefficient is discussed in dependence on the melt spinning fabrication technique. The melt spinner used is only able to produce small thin ribbon shaped specimens, some as thin as 10 μm. This limits melt spinning to mainly production of research specimens for alloys with high critical cooling rate, which are difficult to fabricate with other techniques. Additional parameters are alloying or doping of the base material by comparing the properties as prepared to different annealing conditions. The intrinsic p‐ and n‐doped material was alloyed with up to 0.5% lead telluride by rapidly cooling the bulk material to improve the thermoelectric properties analysed from RT up to about 600 K. A Seebeck coefficient of well above 200 µV/K could be obtained for p‐ and n‐type materials. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Multiphysics Simulation of Thermoelectric Systems for Comparison with Experimental Device Performance

“…For that application, Bi 2 Te 3 -based compounds show the best efficiency. 2 However, high losses can be observed when comparing the thermogenerator device performance to the materials properties. 3 One main problem in the development of effective modules from high-quality thermoelectric material is the unknown mechanism of losses within the thermoelectric module and the lack of understanding of the influence of contact properties.…”

High-Performance (Ag x SbTe x/2+1.5)15(GeTe)85 Thermoelectric Materials Prepared by Melt Spinning

“…As another novel method of rapid solidification, melt spinning has also proved to be effective in reducing crystal size, enhancing phonon scattering, and improving TE performance in silicides and tellurides. [12][13][14][15][16] Based on such understandings, the effects of the melt-spinning method and nonstoichiometry are investigated on the TAGS-85 system. …”

Microstructure Analysis and Thermoelectric Properties of Melt-Spun Bi-Sb-Te Compounds

“…However, these technologies are still far from commercialization in terms of mass production. The continuous attempts to reduce grain size of the TE materials have been tried via high-energy ball milling [15,16], spark erosion [17], melt spinning (MS) [8,[18][19][20], and bottom-up chemical synthesis processes [21][22][23].…”

“…According to several reports [8,[18][19][20], the MS process is proven to be effective for the realization of nano-scale sized Bi 2 Te 3 -based TE materials. However, it is necessary to investigate the process variables, leading to different microstructures and transport properties which are critical factors for TE performance.…”