Thermoelectric and thermomechanical properties of the hot pressed polycrystalline Bi0.5S1.5Te3 alloys

The polycrystalline pseudo-binary Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 alloys have been prepared by hot pressing. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that there is no noticeable preferred orientation in all the samples. Thermoelectric properties were measured and a relatively high ZT value of similar to 0.9 was obtained at room temperature. Thermal mechanical properties were characterized by dilatometer and dynamic-mechanical thermal analyzer. The thermodynamic stability of these alloys could be kept from room temperature to 500K. It is suggested that Bi05Sb1.5Te3 alloys are suitable for the applications below 500 K. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.