TY - JOUR
T1 - Mechanically robust BiSbTe alloys with superior thermoelectric performance
T2 - A case study of stable hierarchical nanostructured thermoelectric materials
AU - Zheng, Yun
AU - Zhang, Qiang
AU - Su, Xianli
AU - Xie, Hongyao
AU - Shu, Shengcheng
AU - Chen, Tianle
AU - Tan, Gangjian
AU - Yan, Yonggao
AU - Tang, Xinfeng
AU - Uher, Ctirad
AU - Snyder, G. Jeffrey
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
PY - 2015/3/1
Y1 - 2015/3/1
N2 - Bismuth telluride based thermoelectric materials have been commercialized for a wide range of applications in power generation and refrigeration. However, the poor machinability and susceptibility to brittle fracturing of commercial ingots often impose significant limitations on the manufacturing process and durability of thermoelectric devices. In this study, melt spinning combined with a plasma-activated sintering (MS-PAS) method is employed for commercial p-type zone-melted (ZM) ingots of Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3. This fast synthesis approach achieves hierarchical structures and in-situ nanoscale precipitates, resulting in the simultaneous improvement of the thermoelectric performance and the mechanical properties. Benefitting from a strong suppression of the lattice thermal conductivity, a peak ZT of 1.22 is achieved at 340 K in MS-PAS synthesized structures, representing about a 40% enhancement over that of ZM ingots. Moreover, MS-PAS specimens with hierarchical structures exhibit superior machinability and mechanical properties with an almost 30% enhancement in their fracture toughness, combined with an eightfold and a factor of six increase in the compressive and flexural strength, respectively. Accompanied by an excellent thermal stability up to 200 °C for the MS-PAS synthesized samples, the MS-PAS technique demonstrates great potential for mass production and large-scale applications of Bi2Te3 related thermoelectrics. Melt-spinning combined with plasma activated sintering is adopted to design hierarchical nanostructured BiSbTe alloys. Because of the hierarchical configuration and nanodispersion, the lattice thermal conductivity is reduced significantly, leading to superior thermoelectric performance and robust mechanical properties. Accompanied by an excellent thermal stability, the melt-spinning-based synthesis approach offers great potential for commercial applications.
AB - Bismuth telluride based thermoelectric materials have been commercialized for a wide range of applications in power generation and refrigeration. However, the poor machinability and susceptibility to brittle fracturing of commercial ingots often impose significant limitations on the manufacturing process and durability of thermoelectric devices. In this study, melt spinning combined with a plasma-activated sintering (MS-PAS) method is employed for commercial p-type zone-melted (ZM) ingots of Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3. This fast synthesis approach achieves hierarchical structures and in-situ nanoscale precipitates, resulting in the simultaneous improvement of the thermoelectric performance and the mechanical properties. Benefitting from a strong suppression of the lattice thermal conductivity, a peak ZT of 1.22 is achieved at 340 K in MS-PAS synthesized structures, representing about a 40% enhancement over that of ZM ingots. Moreover, MS-PAS specimens with hierarchical structures exhibit superior machinability and mechanical properties with an almost 30% enhancement in their fracture toughness, combined with an eightfold and a factor of six increase in the compressive and flexural strength, respectively. Accompanied by an excellent thermal stability up to 200 °C for the MS-PAS synthesized samples, the MS-PAS technique demonstrates great potential for mass production and large-scale applications of Bi2Te3 related thermoelectrics. Melt-spinning combined with plasma activated sintering is adopted to design hierarchical nanostructured BiSbTe alloys. Because of the hierarchical configuration and nanodispersion, the lattice thermal conductivity is reduced significantly, leading to superior thermoelectric performance and robust mechanical properties. Accompanied by an excellent thermal stability, the melt-spinning-based synthesis approach offers great potential for commercial applications.
KW - alloys
KW - hierarchical structures
KW - nanostructures
KW - thermoelectric materials
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84929846992&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84929846992&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/aenm.201401391
DO - 10.1002/aenm.201401391
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84929846992
SN - 1614-6832
VL - 5
JO - Advanced Energy Materials
JF - Advanced Energy Materials
IS - 5
M1 - 1401391
ER -
