Annealing Effect on the Thermoelectric Properties of Hot Extruded Bi₂(Te_0.94Se_0.06)₃+0.07wt%I+0.03wt%CuBr+0.02wt%Te Compound

The n-type Bi2(Te0.94Se0.06)3 thermoelectric compound was prepared by the direct extrusion process using the powder as raw materials. Hot extruded specimens were annealed at 200°C and 350°C for 2hrs. The electrical conductivity, thermoelectric power and thermal conductivity of hot extruded and annealed specimens were measured at room temperature. The fractographs of the specimens showed that the grain size became coarser and a lot of porosities were generated during annealing process. The power factor value (PF) decreased with increasing the annealing temperature. The electric conductivity and thermal conductivity of the specimens also decreased with the increase of annealing temperature. This may be reasoned that the generated porosities affect the thermal conductivity of the specimens prepared in this study. The figure of merit (Z) value of the annealed specimens at 350°C was improved about 10%. The highest Z value of the specimens annealed at 350°C was 2.0 x 10-3/K among the prepared specimens.