Investigation of the Microstructure and Thermoelectric Properties of P-Type BiSbTe Alloys by Usage of Different Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) During Mechanical Milling

In this work, p-type Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ alloys were fabricated by high-energy ball milling (MA) and spark plasma sintering. Different revolutions per minute (RPM)s were used in the MA process, and their effect on microstructure, and thermoelectric properties of p-type Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ were systematically investigated. The crystal structure of milled powders and sintered samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction. All the powders exhibited the same morphology albeit with slight differences find at 1100 RPM conditions. A slight grain size refinement was observed on the fracture surfaces from 500 to 1100 RPM specimens. The temperature dependence of Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and power factors were measured as a function of temperature with different RPM conditions. The power factor shows almost same (~3.5 W/mK² at RT) for all samples due to unchanged Seebeck and electrical conductivity values. The peak ZT of 1.07 at 375K is obtained for 1100 RPM specimen due to low thermal conductivity.