Fabrication and thermoelectric properties of Cu-doped Bi-Te-se bulk materials

Abstract

Dense n-type Bi2Te2.85Se0.15 bulk thermoelectric materials with Cu doping were fabricated by mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. The effect of Cu doping on microstructure and thermoelectric properties of CuxBi2Te2.85Se0.15 has been investigated. At a sintering temperature of 300 °C, the effect of Cu doping on thermoelectric properties was not significant. At 400 °C, however, the carrier concentration decreased significantly with increasing Cu content, and thus causing a significant increase in the Seebeck coefficient. A largest dimensionless figure of merit value of 0.58 was achieved at room temperature for Cu0.03Bi2Te2.85Se0.15 sample sintered at 400°pC.