Improved Thermoelectric Performance of p-Type Bismuth Antimony Telluride Bulk Alloys Prepared by Hot Forging

The thermoelectric (TE) performance of Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 polycrystalline alloys has been improved by a simple hot-forging process. No obvious texture was observed in the x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the hot-forged samples. Transport property measurements indicated that the hot-forged samples possessed extremely low thermal conductivities. A maximum ZT value of ∼1.1 at room temperature was obtained for the sample forged under 30 MPa pressure, being almost 50% more than that of the initial unforged alloy. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) observations suggested that the high density of lattice defects of the hot-forged samples could be responsible for the extremely low thermal conductivities.