Preparation and Thermoelectric Properties of Yttrium-Doped Bi2Te3 Flower-Like Nanopowders

• DOI: 10.1007/s11664-014-3220-4
• Publication Date: 2014-06-05T19:05:15Z
• Authors: Wenyu Shi; Fang Wu; Kunlun Wang; Jingjing Yang; Hongzhang Song; Xing Hu
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences

Yttrium-doped Y x Bi2−x Te3 (x = 0.15, 0.2, 0.25) flower-like nanopowders were synthesized by the hydrothermal method through careful adjustment of the amount of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid surfactant. The flower-like nanopowders were hot pressed into bulk pellets, and the thermoelectric properties of the pellets were examined. The results showed that the optimized doped sample Y0.25Bi1.75Te3 had a relatively high Seebeck coefficient, a lower electrical resistivity, and a lower thermal conductivity. As a result, the figure of merit of the n-type Y0.25Bi1.75Te3 alloy reached 1.23 at 410 K.