Materials Science Forum, Vol.449-4, 905-908, 2004
Effect of oxygen content on thermoelectric properties of sintered Bi-Te based compounds
The n-type thermoelectric materials of Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 doped with SbI3 were prepared by spark plasma sintering technique. The powders were ball-milled in an argon and air atmosphere. Then, powders were reduced in H-2 atmosphere. Effects of oxygen content on the thermoelectric properties of Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 compounds have been investigated. Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity of the sintered compound were measured at room temperature. It was found that the effect of atmosphere during the powder production was remarkable and thermoelectric properties of sintered compound were remarkably improved by H-2 reduction of starting powder. The obtained maximum figure of merit was 2.4 x 10(-3) /K.