Fast preparation and high thermoelectric performance of the stable Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 bulk materials for different synthesis pressures

High-quality Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 alloys with different synthesis pressures were synthesized within 30 min. The intervention of high pressure induces the complex texture and typical structural modulations to form the disordered feature and lattice defects, effectively modulating the carrier and phonon transport properties. As a result, the electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity present the significant reductions. The maximum and average ZT values are 1.3 at 510 K and 1.1 in 320–550 K, respectively. Moreover, the thermogravimetric analysis indicates that the Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 alloys produced by high-pressure synthesis exhibit the wonderful thermal stability, which is beneficial to the practical application.