Thermoelectric properties of Tl-X-Te (X=Pb, Sn, Ge) systems

Polycrystalline-sintered samples of Tl2GeTe3, Tl4SnTe3, and Tl4PbTe3 were prepared by a solid-state reaction. Their thermoelectric properties were evaluated at temperatures ranging from room temperature to ca. 700 K by using the measured electrical resistivity (p), Seebeck coefficient (S), and thermal conductivity (K). Despite their poor electrical properties, the dimensionless figure of merit ZT of all the compounds was relatively high, i.e., 0.74 at 673 K for Tl4SnTe3, 0.71 at 673 K for Tl4PbTe3, 0.29 at 473 K for Tl2GeTe3, due to the very low lattice thermal conductivity of the compounds.