Direct hot deformation of as-grown n-type Bi2Te3 ingots: a simple thermoelectric optimization strategy

Abstract

As the only commercially applied thermoelectric material at room temperature, n-type Bi2Te3 suffers from a relatively low dimensionless figure of merit (zT), which limits the improvement of device conversion efficiency. The primary challenge in improving n-type Bi2Te3 performance lies in how to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity while maintaining the large-size grains and their orientation. Based on zone-melted ingots, we present a preparation method of hot deformation (ZM-HD) to resolve this issue. Benefiting from the donor-like effect, the ZM-HD samples exhibit an enhanced power factor of 59 μW cm−1 K−2 compared to the ZM counterparts. Combined with the decrease in lattice thermal conductivity caused by dense dislocations, the maximum zT of the ZM-HD samples reached 1.18 at 350 K. The obtained results are comparable to those of a previous report using the layered crystal stacking hot deformation method, saving the process of mechanical exfoliation. The maximum conversion efficiency of the prepared 17-pair thermoelectric module reached 6.2%. This work demonstrates a simple and efficient approach for the scalable fabrication of high-performance n-type Bi2Te3-based materials.

Graphical abstract: Direct hot deformation of as-grown n-type Bi2Te3 ingots: a simple thermoelectric optimization strategy

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Apr 2025
Accepted
16 Jun 2025
First published
17 Jun 2025

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, Advance Article

Direct hot deformation of as-grown n-type Bi2Te3 ingots: a simple thermoelectric optimization strategy

C. Zhou, J. Cai, Q. Zhang, G. Liu, X. Tan, J. Zhu, G. Zhang, J. Wu, B. Liang and J. Jiang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D5TA02626A

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