Highly Enhanced Thermoelectric and Mechanical Properties of Bi-Sb-Te Compounds by Carrier Modulation and Microstructure Adjustment

Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3 + x wt % Cu1.8S (x = 0, 0.03, 0.05, and 0.1) bulk materials with enhanced thermoelectric and mechanical properties were fabricated by a solid-state reaction and spark plasma sintering. The thermoelectric properties, such as electrical transport properties and thermal conductivity, are highly dependent on the Cu1.8S content. The highest value of ZT obtained for Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3 with 0.05 wt % Cu1.8S is 1.23 at 373 K, and an optimistic average ZT of 1.2 is achieved at temperatures in the range of 323–448 K, which is 34% higher than that of the pristine sample. The highly enhanced ZT of the doped sample is attributed to the increased electrical conductivity and reduced lattice thermal conductivity caused by the effective element doping and the multiscale phonon scattering by quantities of point defects, twin boundaries, and nanopores. Further, the hardness obtained for this sample is 1.02 GPa, which is increased by 16% in comparison with that of the pristine sample. The conversion efficiency of the doped sample is also significantly higher than that of the pristine sample. Therefore, Cu1.8S is considered to be a promising dopant for enhancing the thermoelectric and mechanical properties of Bi-Sb-Te-based thermoelectric materials.