Thermoelectric properties of a eutectic SnSe2-Bi2Se3 alloy

Data are presented which confirm that the SnSe2-Bi2Se3 system has a eutectic phase diagram, with a eutectic at 67 mol % SnSe2, melting at 831 +/- 5 K. The thermoelectric properties of the eutectic alloy in this system have been studied for the first time in the temperature range 300-600 K. The results demonstrate that this alloy is a promising low-temperature thermoelectric material: its minimal thermal conductivity (chi(min)) and maximum thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT (max)) are 0.28 W/(m K) (416 K) and 0.56 (593 K), respectively.