Issue 8, 2022

Optimized thermoelectric properties of Bi0.48Sb1.52Te3/BN composites

Abstract

BixSb2−xTe3 and Bi2Te3−xSex alloys demonstrate the state-of-the-art thermoelectric (TE) performances at around 300 K and have realized wide applications in TE refrigerators. However, the ZT values of the zone-melted materials have not been ideal for a long time. Aiming at the target of improving TE properties, we prepared p-type Bi0.48Sb1.52Te3−x wt% BN composites. The measurement results indicate that the addition of BN particles can effectively increase the thermopowers and maintain relatively high carrier mobilities, leading to a noticeably improved power factor of 53 μW cm−1 K−2 at 300 K. Moreover, the total thermal conductivity is significantly suppressed because of the decreased electrical conductivity and the introduced phonon scattering centers. Consequently, a maximum ZT value of 1.3 is obtained at 375 K in the x = 0.10 wt% composite, while the Vickers hardness and compressive strength are improved to 0.31 GPa and 8.8 MPa, respectively. This study demonstrates that a small amount of BN addition is a credible scheme to synergistically optimize both the TE and mechanical performances of p-type Bi2Te3-based materials.

Graphical abstract: Optimized thermoelectric properties of Bi0.48Sb1.52Te3/BN composites

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Nov 2021
Accepted
17 Jan 2022
First published
17 Jan 2022

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022,10, 3172-3177

Optimized thermoelectric properties of Bi0.48Sb1.52Te3/BN composites

L. Chen, Z. Guo, Q. Zhang, G. Wu, X. Tan, Y. Yin, H. Hu, G. Liu and J. Jiang, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022, 10, 3172 DOI: 10.1039/D1TC05455D

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