The nanocrystalline thermoelectric compound Bi2Te3 forms by a particle-wise explosive reaction during mechanical alloying

Journal Article · Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Scripta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2011.06.014· OSTI ID:1381425

Humphry-Baker, S. A.; Schuh, C. A.

During mechanical alloying to synthesize the nanocrystalline thermoelectric compound Bi2Te3, the reaction from elemental constituents occurs in only 15 min. Using X-ray diffraction and quantitative metallography, the mechanism for this rapid transformation is identified as Te and Bi powders reacting explosively on a particle-by-particle basis. The reaction is apparently ignited by local heat release from milling tool collisions, and sustained by the heat of compound formation only over the scale of individual particles.

• Research Organization: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577
• OSTI ID: 1381425
• Journal Information: Scripta Materialia, Vol. 65, Issue 6; Related Information: S3TEC partners with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (lead); Boston College; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; ISSN 1359-6462
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
solar (photovoltaic)
solar (thermal)
solid state lighting
phonons
thermal conductivity
thermoelectric
defects
mechanical behavior
charge transport
spin dynamics
materials and chemistry by design
optics
synthesis (novel materials)
synthesis (self-assembly)
synthesis (scalable processing)