Inspired by the high ZT value lately attained in Ar-protected ball-milled nanocrystalline p-BiSbTe bulk alloy, we report herein an investigation of the effects of ball-milling atmosphere on the thermoelectric (TE) properties of the traditional TE material (GeTe)85(AgSbTe2)15 (TAGS-85). TAGS-85 samples were prepared via a melting–quenching–annealing process, and then ball-milled in different atmospheres and subsequently densified using a spark plasma sintering technique. The Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and Hall coefficient were measured as a function of temperature from 10 K to 310 K. It was found that different ball-milling atmospheres, i.e., air, liquid N2 (LN2), and Ar, profoundly affected the TE properties. A state-of-the-art figure of merit ZT ≈ 0.30 was attained at 310 K in the Ar-ball milled sample. The results are discussed in terms of the carrier concentration, mobility, crystallinity, and the grain boundary scattering.
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Acknowledgements
The work is supported by the National ‘863’ Hi-tech. Program of China (2007AA03Z234), ‹973’ Program (2007CB607502) the Department of Energy Implementation program (#DE-FG02-04ER-46139), and the SC EPSCoR/Clemson University Cost Share.
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Zhang, S.N., He, J., Ji, X.H. et al. Effects of Ball-Milling Atmosphere on the Thermoelectric Properties of TAGS-85 Compounds. J. Electron. Mater. 38, 1142–1147 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-009-0779-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-009-0779-2