Nanostructured AgPb(m)SbTe(m+2) system bulk materials with enhanced thermoelectric performance.

Nanostructured Ag0.8Pbm+xSbTem+2 (m = 18, x = 4.5) system thermoelectric materials have been fabricated by combining mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) methods followed by annealing for several days to investigate the effect on microstructure and thermoelectric performance. It was found that appropriate annealing treatment could reduce both the electrical resistivity and the thermal conductivity at the same time, consequently greatly enhancing the thermoelectric performance. A low electrical resistivity of 2 x 10-3 Ohm-cm and low thermal conductivity of 0.89 W m-1 K-1 were obtained for the sample annealed for 30 days at 700 K. The very low thermal conductivity is supposed to be due to the nanoscopic Ag/Sb-rich regions embedded in the matrix. A high ZT value of 1.5 at 700 K has been achieved for the sample annealed for 30 days.