Improved thermoelectric performance in polycrystalline p-type Bi2Te3 via an alkali metal salt hydrothermal nanocoating treatment approach

We report herein a proof-of-principle study of grain boundary engineering in the polycrystalline p-type Bi2Te3 system. Utilizing the recently developed hydrothermal nanocoating treatment technique, we fabricated an alkali-metal(s)-containing surface layer on the p-Bi2Te3 bulk grain, which in turn became part of the grain boundary upon hot pressing densification. Compared to the untreated bulk reference, the dimensionless figure of merit ZT has been improved by ∼30% in the Na-treated sample chiefly due to the reduced thermal conductivity, and ∼38% in the Rb-treated sample mainly owing to the improved power factor. The grain boundary phase provides a new avenue by which one can potentially decouple the otherwise inter-related electrical resistivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity within one thermoelectric material.