Origin of inhomogeneity in spark plasma sintered bismuth antimony telluride thermoelectric nanocomposites

Enzheng Shi; Shuang Cui; Nicholas Kempf; Qingfeng Xing; Thomas Chasapis; Huazhang Zhu; Zhe Li; Je Hyeong Bahk; G. Jeffrey Snyder; Yanliang Zhang; Renkun Chen; Yue Wu

doi:10.1007/s12274-019-2590-6

Origin of inhomogeneity in spark plasma sintered bismuth antimony telluride thermoelectric nanocomposites

Enzheng Shi, Shuang Cui, Nicholas Kempf, Qingfeng Xing, Thomas Chasapis, Huazhang Zhu, Zhe Li, Je Hyeong Bahk, G. Jeffrey Snyder, Yanliang Zhang, Renkun Chen, Yue Wu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Anisotropy and inhomogeneity are ubiquitous in spark plasma sintered thermoelectric devices. However, the origin of inhomogeneity in thermoelectric nanocomposites has rarely been investigated so far. Herein, we systematically study the impact of inhomogeneity in spark plasma sintered bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) thermoelectric nanocomposites fabricated from solution-synthesized nanoplates. The figure of merit can reach 1.18, which, however, can be overestimated to 1.88 without considering the inhomogeneity. Our study reveals that the inhomogeneity in thermoelectric properties is attributed to the non-uniformity of porosity, textures and elemental distribution from electron backscatter diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy characterizations. This finding suggests that the optimization of bulk material homogeneity should also be actively pursued in any future thermoelectric material research. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1339-1346
Number of pages	8
Journal	Nano Research
Volume	13
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-019-2590-6
State	Published - May 1 2020

Keywords

bismuth antimony telluride
inhomogeneity
solution synthesis
thermoelectrics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
General Materials Science
Condensed Matter Physics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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10.1007/s12274-019-2590-6

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title = "Origin of inhomogeneity in spark plasma sintered bismuth antimony telluride thermoelectric nanocomposites",

abstract = "Anisotropy and inhomogeneity are ubiquitous in spark plasma sintered thermoelectric devices. However, the origin of inhomogeneity in thermoelectric nanocomposites has rarely been investigated so far. Herein, we systematically study the impact of inhomogeneity in spark plasma sintered bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) thermoelectric nanocomposites fabricated from solution-synthesized nanoplates. The figure of merit can reach 1.18, which, however, can be overestimated to 1.88 without considering the inhomogeneity. Our study reveals that the inhomogeneity in thermoelectric properties is attributed to the non-uniformity of porosity, textures and elemental distribution from electron backscatter diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy characterizations. This finding suggests that the optimization of bulk material homogeneity should also be actively pursued in any future thermoelectric material research. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].",

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author = "Enzheng Shi and Shuang Cui and Nicholas Kempf and Qingfeng Xing and Thomas Chasapis and Huazhang Zhu and Zhe Li and Bahk, {Je Hyeong} and Snyder, {G. Jeffrey} and Yanliang Zhang and Renkun Chen and Yue Wu",

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doi = "10.1007/s12274-019-2590-6",

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AU - Shi, Enzheng

AU - Cui, Shuang

AU - Kempf, Nicholas

AU - Xing, Qingfeng

AU - Chasapis, Thomas

AU - Zhu, Huazhang

AU - Li, Zhe

AU - Bahk, Je Hyeong

AU - Snyder, G. Jeffrey

AU - Zhang, Yanliang

AU - Chen, Renkun

AU - Wu, Yue

PY - 2020/5/1

Y1 - 2020/5/1

N2 - Anisotropy and inhomogeneity are ubiquitous in spark plasma sintered thermoelectric devices. However, the origin of inhomogeneity in thermoelectric nanocomposites has rarely been investigated so far. Herein, we systematically study the impact of inhomogeneity in spark plasma sintered bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) thermoelectric nanocomposites fabricated from solution-synthesized nanoplates. The figure of merit can reach 1.18, which, however, can be overestimated to 1.88 without considering the inhomogeneity. Our study reveals that the inhomogeneity in thermoelectric properties is attributed to the non-uniformity of porosity, textures and elemental distribution from electron backscatter diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy characterizations. This finding suggests that the optimization of bulk material homogeneity should also be actively pursued in any future thermoelectric material research. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

AB - Anisotropy and inhomogeneity are ubiquitous in spark plasma sintered thermoelectric devices. However, the origin of inhomogeneity in thermoelectric nanocomposites has rarely been investigated so far. Herein, we systematically study the impact of inhomogeneity in spark plasma sintered bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) thermoelectric nanocomposites fabricated from solution-synthesized nanoplates. The figure of merit can reach 1.18, which, however, can be overestimated to 1.88 without considering the inhomogeneity. Our study reveals that the inhomogeneity in thermoelectric properties is attributed to the non-uniformity of porosity, textures and elemental distribution from electron backscatter diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy characterizations. This finding suggests that the optimization of bulk material homogeneity should also be actively pursued in any future thermoelectric material research. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

KW - bismuth antimony telluride

KW - inhomogeneity

KW - solution synthesis

KW - thermoelectrics

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Origin of inhomogeneity in spark plasma sintered bismuth antimony telluride thermoelectric nanocomposites

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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