Influence of nanoinclusions on thermoelectric properties of n-type Bi ₂Te ₃ nanocomposites

n-Type Bi ₂Te ₃ nanocomposites with enhanced figure of merit, ZT, were fabricated by a simple, high-throughput method of mixing nanostructured Bi ₂Te ₃ particles obtained through melt spinning with micron-sized particles. Moderately high power factors were retained, while the thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites was found to decrease with increasing weight percent of nanoinclusions. The peak ZT values for all the nanocomposites were above 1.1, and the maximum shifted to higher temperature with increasing amount of nanoinclusions. A maximum ZT of 1.18 at 42°C was obtained for the 10 wt.% nanocomposite, which is a 43% increase over the bulk sample at the same temperature. This is the highest ZT reported for n-type Bi ₂Te ₃ binary material, and higher ZT values are expected if state-of-the-art Bi ₂Te _3-x Se _x materials are used.