Effect of bismuth doping and SiC nanodispersion on the thermoelectric properties of solution-processed PbTe

Thermoelectric materials are promising as they found numerous applications in electrical power generation and solid-state cooling. In the last decade, Lead Telluride (PbTe) has emerged as a potential thermoelectric candidate for electrical power generation in the medium temperature range. In the pre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of alloys and compounds 2022-09, Vol.915, p.165390, Article 165390
Main Authors: Sharma, Pradeep Kumar, Senguttuvan, T.D., Sharma, V.K., Patro, Pankaj, Chaudhary, Sujeet
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bismuth
Coefficient
Doping
Electrical conductivity
Electrical resistivity
Figure of merit
Heat conductivity
Heat transfer
Intermetallic compounds
Lead Telluride
Lead tellurides
Nanocomposites
Nanoparticles
Scattering
Seebeck
Seebeck effect
Silicon carbide
Thermal Conductivity
Thermoelectric materials
Thermoelectricity
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Summary:Thermoelectric materials are promising as they found numerous applications in electrical power generation and solid-state cooling. In the last decade, Lead Telluride (PbTe) has emerged as a potential thermoelectric candidate for electrical power generation in the medium temperature range. In the present work, we demonstrate nearly 78% enhancement in thermoelectric figure of merit (zT) of nanostructured PbTe compound through doping with bismuth and dispersing 50 nm SiC nanoparticles. Bismuth doping induces n-type conduction and improves the electrical conductivity, while the SiC nanoinclusions modulate the Seebeck coefficient by carrier energy filtering, in addition to suppressing the lattice thermal conductivity. The significant phonon scattering at multi-scale scattering centers resulted in a minimum lattice thermal conductivity (κL) of 0.69 W/m-K in Bi0.02-Pb0.98Te-8% SiC nanocomposite sample. Finally, the reduced lattice thermal conductivity in conjunction with moderate electrical conductivity and high Seebeck coefficient leads to a zTmax value of 0.32 at 590 K in the sample with 6% SiC content. Hence, the partial substitution of the host atom and the presence of a secondary phase can be another promising strategy to enhance the thermoelectric performance. •The Electrical conductivity increases by almost two order of magnitude by controlled doping with Bismuth.•The Seebeck coefficient increases with the increase in SiC content in the PbTe-SiC nanocomposites.•A minimum lattice thermal conductivity of 0.69 W/m-K is obtained in nanocomposite sample with 8 % SiC content.•The synergistic combination of enhanced Seebeck coefficient, improved electrical conductivity and reduced thermal conductivity leads to zTmax of 0.32 at 590 K.•zT increases with the increase in temperature and higher values are predicted in higher measurement temperature range.
ISSN:0925-8388
1873-4669
DOI:10.1016/j.jallcom.2022.165390