Fabrication and Spark plasma sintering of nanostructured bismuth telluride (Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3})
- Functional Materials Division, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 16440 Kista, Stockholm (Sweden)
Thermoelectric (TE) devices can harvest residual low-grade waste heat energy. Bismuth telluride (Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3}) and its alloys are mostly used TE materials in the bulk form for making TE modules. We report a simple, fast and very high yield synthetic process for the bulk Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} nanopowders with hexagonal plate like morphology. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) process has been optimized in order to preserve nanostructure while achieving a high compaction density of the pellets. Electron microscopy analysis was used to determine the effect of SPS parameters during compaction on the grain growth. Optimal conditions for the fabricated nanopowder was determined as 673 K, 70 MPa pressure with no holding time, which resulted in average lateral grain size in the range of 165-190 nm for a compact density of 98%. About 50% reduction of thermal conductivity was observed as compared to its bulk counterparts, revealing the feasibility of suggested route in the preservation of nanostructure and enhanced phonon scattering.
- OSTI ID:
- 22068980
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1449, Issue 1; Conference: ECT2011: 9. European conference on thermoelectrics, Thessaloniki (Greece), 28-30 Sep 2011; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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