Original scientific paper

Morphology-controlled power factor of nanostructured bismuth telluride

Dipali Banerjee ; Department of Physics, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah 711103, India
Krishanu Chatterjee ; Department of Physics, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah 711103, India
Abhijit Pal ; Department of Physics, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah 711103, India
N. R. Bandyopadhyay ; School of Materials Science, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah 711103, India
Sudip K. Batabyal ; Department of Solid State Physics, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700032, India
Chitra Basu ; Department of Solid State Physics, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700032, India
G. S. Sanual ; Department of Chemistry, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, India
A. R. Das ; Polymer Science Unit, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700032, India

Abstract

Bismuth telluride is a thermoelectric material with high figure of merit, used for cooling applications at room temperature. To investigate the effect of morphology and grain size on transport parameters, nanostructured bismuth telluride has been synthesized under different reaction conditions and characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. From the measurement of electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power, power factor for different samples has been obtained. The results show that the transport parameters are critically influenced by the morphology and dimension of the samples that in turn depend on the condition of synthesis. The experimentally observed variation of electrical conductivity with the change of dimensionality of the samples from 2D to 0D, which is in line with the theoretical prediction made by other workers, is discussed. There is a variation of the power factor of the samples prepared under different conditions of synthesis.

Keywords

nanostructures, semiconductors, X-ray dispersive analysis, thermoelectric effects

Hrčak ID:

302800

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/302800

Publication date:

1.9.2010.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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