• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.352-358
• /
• 2008

The present study focused on the synthesis of a bismuth-antimony-tellurium-based thermoelectric nanopowders using plasma arc discharge process. The chemical composition, phase structure, particle size of the synthesized powders under various synthesis conditions were analyzed using XRF, XRD and SEM. The powders as synthesized were sintered by the plasma activated sintering. The thermoelectric properties of sintered body were analyzed by measuring Seebeck coefficient, specific electric resistivity and thermal conductivity. The chemical composition of the synthesized Bi-Sb-Te-based powders approached that of the raw material with an increasing DC current of the are plasma. The synthesized Bi-Sb-Te-based powder consist of a mixed phase structure of the $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_{3}$, $Bi_{2}Te_{3}$ and $Sb_{2}Te_{3}$ phases. This powder has homogeneous mixing state of two different particles in an average particle size; about 100nm and about 500nm. The figure of merit of the sintered body of the synthesized 18.75 wt.%Bi-24.68 wt.%Sb-56.57 wt.%Te nanopowder showed higher value than one of the sintered body of the mechanically milled 12.64 wt.%Bi-29.47 wt.%Sb-57.89 wt.%Te powder.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.28-34
• /
• 2002

Thin films of $Sb_{2-x}Bi_xTe_3$ (x = 0.0, 0.5, and 1.0) are grown by vacuum evaporation. XRD analysis shows the amorphous nature of the films, and the composition studies confirm the stoichiometry of the films. Microstructural parameters of the films have been calculated and used to explain the electrical and optical properties of the films. It is observed that the carrier type has changed from p- to n-type at higher concentration (x = 1.0) of Bi. The resistivity of the films decreases rapidly with the increase of Bi concentration. However, the refractive index and optical band gap of the films increase with the Bi concentration.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.345-349
• /
• 2013

Carbon nanotube-dispersed bismuth telluride matrix (CNT/$Bi_2Te_3$) nanopowders were synthesized by chemical routes followed by a ball-milling process. The microstructures of the synthesized CNT/$Bi_2Te_3$ nanopowders showed the characteristic microstructure of CNTs dispersed among disc-shaped $Bi_2Te_3$ nanopowders with as an average size of 500 nm in-plane and a few tens of nm in thickness. The prepared nanopowders were sintered into composites with a homogeneous dispersion of CNTs in a $Bi_2Te_3$ matrix. The dimensionless figure-of-merit of the composite showed an enhanced value compared to that of pure $Bi_2Te_3$ at the room temperature due to the reduced thermal conductivity and increased electrical conductivity with the addition of CNTs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 1993.07a
• /
• pp.93-94
• /
• 1993

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.48 no.5
• /
• pp.445-448
• /
• 2010

For an enhanced thermoelectric performance, one-dimensional heterostructure nanowires were created that consisted of aBi core and Te shell. The structure was fabricated by depositing Te in-situ onto a Bi nanowire grown by our unique OFF-ON (on-film formation of nanowires) method. After examining a cross-sectional TEM image, it was found that diffusive interface was formed between Bi and Te. Selected area electron diffraction revealed that the crystallinity of the Te shell was some what lower compared to the highly single-crystalline Bi core. The Bi-Te core/shell nanowires can be a smart structure that suppresses phonon transport by several scattering mechanisms, making the OFF-ON method the simplest way to realize that structure.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2000.11a
• /
• pp.145-145
• /
• 2000

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
• /
• v.3 no.3
• /
• pp.309-315
• /
• 1994

순간증착법으로 p형(Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3)과 n형(Bi2Te24Se0.6)열전박막을 제조하여 상온에서 Seebeck 계 수, 전기전도도 및 열전성능지수를 측정하였다. 또한 금속재 mask를 이용하여 다중접점 박막형 열전소 자를 제작하고 그 작동특성을 조사하였다. 이때 소자의 고온부와 저온부의 온도를 직접측정하기 위하여 copper/constantan 박막을 접점부에 증착하여 열전쌍이 되게 하였다. p/n 접점이 5쌍이 소자의 경우 Peltier 효과에 의해 생성된 최대온도차는 22K이었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2009.04b
• /
• pp.17-17
• /
• 2009

We report the invention of a direct growth method termed On-Film Formation of Nanowire (OFF-ON) for making high-quality single-crystal nanowires, i.e. Bi and $Bi_2Te_3$, without the use of conventional templates, catalysts, or starting materials. We have used the OFF-ON technique to grow single crystal semi-metallic Bi and compound semiconductor $Bi_2Te_3$ nanowires from sputtered Bi and BiTe films after thermal annealing, respectively. The mechanism for nanowire growth is stress-induced mass flow along grain boundaries in the polycrystalline films. OFF-ON is a simple but powerful method for growing perfect single-crystal semi-metallic and compound semiconductor nanowires of high aspect ratio with high crystallinity that distinguishes it from other competitive growth approaches that have been developed to date. Our results suggest that Bi and $Bi_2Te_3$ nanowires grown by OFF-ON can be an ideal material system for exploring their unique thermoelectric properties due to their high-quality single crystalline and high conductivity, which have consequence and relevance for high-efficiency thermoelectric devices.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.254-259
• /
• 2015

$Bi_2Te_3$ related compounds show the best thermoelectric properties at room temperature. However, n-type $Bi_2Te_{2.7}Se_{0.3}$ showed no improvement on ZT values. To improve the thermolectric propterties of n-type $Bi_2Te_{2.7}Se_{0.3}$, this research has Cu-doped n-type powder. This study focused on effects of Cu-doping method on the thermoelectric properties of n-type materials, and evaluated the comparison between the Cu chemical and mechanical doping. The synthesized powder was manufactured by the spark plasma sintering(SPS). The thermoelectric properties of the sintered body were evaluated by measuring their Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and hall coefficient. An introduction of a small amount of Cu reduced the thermal conductivity and improved the electrical properties with Seebeck coefficient. The authors provided the optimal concentration of $Cu_{0.1}Bi_{1.99}Se_{0.3}Te_{2.7}$. A figure of merit (ZT) value of 1.22 was obtained for $Cu_{0.1}Bi_{1.9}Se_{0.3}Te_{2.7}$ at 373K by Cu chemical doping, which was obviously higher than those of $Cu_{0.1}Bi_{1.9}Se_{0.3}Te_{2.7}$ at 373K by Cu mechanical doping (ZT=0.56) and Cu-free $Bi_2Se_{0.3}Te_{2.7}$ (ZT=0.51).

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.50-56
• /
• 1998

A new process using rapid solidification (melt spinning method) followed by pressing and sintering was investigated to produce the n-type thermoelectric ribbons of 90% $Bi_2Te_3$+10% $Bi_2Se_3$ doped with $CdCl_2$. Quenched ribbons are very brittle and consisted of homogeneous $Bi_2Te_3-Bi_2Se_3$ pseudo-binary solid solutions. Property variations of the materials was investigated as a function of variables, such as dopant $CdCl_2$ quantity and sintering temperature. When the process parameters were optimized, the maximum figure of merit was $2.146{\times}10^{-3}K^{-1}$.