Thermoelectric Properties of Rapid Solidified p-type Bi2Te3Alloy Fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering(SPS) Process

The p-type thermoelectric compounds of $Bi_2Te_3$ based doped with 3wt% Te were fabricated by a combination of rapid solidification and spark plasma sintering (SPS) process. The effect of holding time during spark plasma sintering (SPS) on the microstructure and thermoelectric properties were investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermoelectric properties. The powders as solidified consisted of homogeneous thermoelectric phases. The thermoelectric figure of merit measured to be maximum ($3.41{\times}10^{-3}/K$) at the SPS temperature of $430^{\circ}C$.