| Abstract: | In this work,we report that the thermoelectric properties of Bi_(0.52)Sb_(1.48)Te_3alloy can be enhanced by being composited with Mn Te nano particles(NPs)through a combined ball milling and spark plasma sintering(SPS)process.The addition of Mn Te into the host can synergistically reduce the lattice thermal conductivity by increasing the interface phononscattering between Bi_(0.52)Sb_(1.48)Te_3 and MnTe NPs,and enhance the electrical transport properties by optimizing the hole concentration through partial Mn~(2+)acceptor doping on the Bi~(3+)sites of the host lattice.It is observed that the lattice thermal conductivity decreases with increasing the percentage of Mn Te and milling time in a temperature range from 300 Kto 500 K,which is consistent with the increasing of interfaces.Meanwhile,the bipolar effect is constrained to high temperatures,which results in the figure of merit z T peak shifting toward higher temperature and broadening the z T curves.The engineering z T is obtained to be 20%higher than that of the pristine sample for the 2-mol%Mn Te-added composite at a temperature gradient of 200 K when the cold end temperature is set to be 300 K.This result indicates that the thermoelectric performance of Bi_(0.52)Sb_(1.48)Te_3 can be considerably enhanced by being composited with Mn Te NPs. |
