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Fine‐Grained and Nanostructured AgPb m SbTe m +2 Alloys with High Thermoelectric Figure of Merit at Medium Temperature
Author(s) -
Li ZongYue,
Li JingFeng
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201300937
Subject(s) - spark plasma sintering , materials science , thermoelectric effect , thermoelectric materials , figure of merit , alloy , electrical resistivity and conductivity , seebeck coefficient , optoelectronics , sintering , metallurgy , thermal conductivity , composite material , thermodynamics , electrical engineering , physics , engineering
AgPb m SbTe m +2 (abbreviated as LAST) has received tremendous attention as a promising thermoelectric material at medium temperature. It can be synthesized by a simple process combining mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). This work reveals that the thermoelectric figure of merit ( ZT value) of LAST can be increased by 50%, benefiting from enhanced electrical conductivity and thermopower due to refined grains and from nanostructuring realized by repeating the milling and SPS processes. This modified process and further compositional optimization enables ZT values of the LAST alloys up to 1.54 at 723 K. This supports the potential of the LAST alloy as a promising medium‐temperature thermoelectric material and reveals the validity of ZT enhancement by a simple microstructural refining and nanostructuring method.