Improved thermoelectric performance of Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 with honey dispersion

Abstract

Bi2Te3-based alloys are only commercial thermoelectric materials. While, currently, n-type Bi2Te[Formula: see text]Se[Formula: see text]-based alloys commonly have lower ZT values than those of p-type Bi[Formula: see text]Sb[Formula: see text]Te3 based alloys. In this paper, the influence of different amounts of dispersing honey on the thermoelectric performance of n-type Bi2Te[Formula: see text]Se[Formula: see text] alloys synthesized by the hydrothermal and hot-pressing methods was investigated. The carbon atoms contained in honey could increase lattice defects and grain boundary density effectively, and improved the Seebeck coefficient and suppress lattice thermal conductivity simultaneously. By adjusting the amount of honey, the maximum ZT value reached 0.82 at 423[Formula: see text]K, which was approximately 65% higher than that of the pristine Bi2Te2.7Se0.3.