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Effect of Sn Doping in (Bi0.25Sb0.75)2−x Sn x Te3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1) on Thermoelectric Performance

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Abstract

We report the effect of Sn doping on the thermoelectric performance of (Bi0.25Sb0.75)2−x Sn x Te3 compounds (x = 0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2) synthesized by the melting method followed by high-energy ball milling and spark plasma sintering. As indicated by transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images, layered structure and inhomogeneous nanostructures are present in (Bi0.25Sb0.75)2−x Sn x Te3. It is found that Sn doping dramatically reduces the thermal conductivity together with a minor decline in the electrical conductivity, yielding a net enhancement of the figure of merit (ZT). The highest ZT value is approximately 1.03 at 338 K when x is 0.01, an increase of 28.4% compared with the pure sample.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11344010, 11404044, 51472036) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (CQDXWL-2013-Z010). This work at the Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences is supported by the One Hundred Person Project of the Chinese Academy of Science (Grant No. 2013-46).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, People’s Republic of China

    Zhengwei Cai, Lijie Guo, Xiaolong Xu, Yanci Yan, Kunling Peng, Guiwen Wang & Xiaoyuan Zhou

  2. Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, People’s Republic of China

    Guiwen Wang & Guoyu Wang

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  1. Zhengwei Cai
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  2. Lijie Guo
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  3. Xiaolong Xu
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  5. Kunling Peng
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  7. Guoyu Wang
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  8. Xiaoyuan Zhou
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Correspondence to Guoyu Wang or Xiaoyuan Zhou.

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Cai, Z., Guo, L., Xu, X. et al. Effect of Sn Doping in (Bi0.25Sb0.75)2−x Sn x Te3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1) on Thermoelectric Performance. J. Electron. Mater. 45, 1441–1446 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-4061-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-4061-5

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