Effect of sintering in ball-milled K _2Bi _8Se _(13) thermoelectric nano-composites (Conference Paper)

摘要

K _2Bi _8Se _(13) has many attractive features for thermoelectric applications. Recently, K _2Bi _8Se _(13)-based nanocomposite materials, consisting of nano-crystalline, micro-crystalline and amorphous phases, have been fabricated based on powder technology techniques. The Seebeck coefficient has been enhanced while the thermal conductivity has been decreased presenting, thus, interesting behavior. The behavior of the materials under heat treatment conditions is now of interest, as the application of sintering process is necessary for the development of thermoelectric modules. In this work, the crystallization of the K _2Bi _8Se _(13)-based nano-composites is studied using Differential Scanning Calorimetry. The results show that crystallization follows a multiple-step process with different activation energies. The thermoelectric properties are also discussed in the range that crystallization occurs.