Realize high thermoelectric performance in both zone-melted ingots and powder-metallurgy bulks of Bi_0.46Sb_1.54Te₃

Abstract Bi(Sb) 2 Te(Se) 3 alloys, as the only commercial thermoelectric materials, have been applied widely in cooling fields. While, the current energy conversion efficiency (dominated by the dimensionless ZT ) of commercial products is still lower and cannot meet the market demand. In this paper, high thermoelectric performance at room temperature in both zone-melted (ZM) Bi 0.46 Sb 1.54 Te 3 ingots and powder-metallurgy (PM) Bi 0.46 Sb 1.54 Te 3 blocks with a large size was realized successfully by optimizing their preparation process. The peak ZT values of ZM and PM p-type Bi 0.46 Sb 1.54 Te 3 alloys reached 1.26 and 1.45, respectively. They are higher than those of all the n-type or p-type Bi 2 Te 3 -based products in current commercial applications. In particular, their production process of large size p-type Bi 0.46 Sb 1.54 Te 3 alloys could be directly industrialized.