Nanocrystals of the Quaternary Thermoelectric Materials: AgPb_mSbTe_m+2 (m = 1–18): Phase‐Segregated or Solid Solutions?

Facile synthesis of a series of thermoelectrically relevant AgPbmSbTem+2 (m = 1–18) nanoparticles (see figure) is carried out by using a colloidal synthetic route. As-synthesized nanocrystals are spherical in geometry and adopt a cubic NaCl-type structure. These quaternary nanocrystals behave as solid solutions at room temperature and tend to phase separate into AgSbTe2 and PbTe upon annealing at moderately high temperature.