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(Bi,Sb)2Te3-PbTe chalcogenide alloys: Impact of the cooling rate and sintering parameters on the microstructures and thermoelectric performances

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2011

Alexandre Jacquot ,
Thomas Jürgen ,
Joachim Schumann ,
Martin Jägle ,
Harald Böttner ,
Thomas Gemming ,
Jürgen Schmidt  and
Dirk Ebling
Alexandre Jacquot*
Affiliation:
Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Technique, D–79110 Freiburg, Germany
Thomas Jürgen
Affiliation:
Institute of Complex Materials, IFW Dresden, D–01069 Dresden, Germany
Joachim Schumann
Affiliation:
Institute for Solid State Research, IFW Dresden, D–01069 Dresden, Germany
Martin Jägle
Affiliation:
Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Technique, D–79110 Freiburg, Germany
Harald Böttner
Affiliation:
Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Technique, D–79110 Freiburg, Germany
Thomas Gemming
Affiliation:
Institute of Complex Materials, IFW Dresden, D–01069 Dresden, Germany
Jürgen Schmidt
Affiliation:
Fraunhofer-Institut für Fertigungstechnik und Angewandte Materialforschung IFAM, Institutsteil Dresden, 01277 Dresden, Germany
Dirk Ebling
Affiliation:
Fachhochschule Düsseldorf, Forschung und Transfer Präsidium, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: Alexandre.Jacquote@ipm-fraunhofer.de
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Abstract

(Bi,Sb)2Te3 + 4 mol%PbTe was quenched in water and on a rotating copper wheel (melt spinning). It was found that PbTe was immiscible in (Bi,Sb)2Te3 when the material is quenched in water and that the thermoelectric figure of merit increases by annealing. Natural nanostructures (nns) were found in melt-spun (Bi,Sb)2Te3, whereas they were hard to detect in (Bi,Sb)2Te3 alloyed with PbTe. There is a correlation between the orientation of the strain field and the nns. Within the grains of melt-spun (Bi,Sb)2Te3 alloyed with PbTe, the chemical composition was homogeneous. An enrichment of Pb was found at the grain boundaries. Quenched (Bi,Sb)2Te3 alloyed with 0.3 wt%PbTe have been spark plasma sintered (SPS). After optimization, the Seebeck coefficients of the melt-spun SPS (MS-SPS) materials were larger than for materials quenched in water and sintered (QW-SPS) materials. In addition, the mobility increases with the carrier concentration in MS-SPS materials, whereas it decreases in QW-SPS materials.

Keywords

ThermoelectricMicrostructureNanostructure
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 26 , Issue 15: Focus Issue: Advances in Thermoelectric Materials , 14 August 2011 , pp. 1773 - 1784
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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