Fabrication of layered p-type AgSbTe2-(Bi,Sb)2Te3 thermoelectric module and its performances

A layered p-type thermoelectric module of AgSbTe₂-(Bi,Sb)₂Te₃ was fabricated by a Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) process and its´ performances was evaluated with both calculation and measurement. Each powder of AgSbTe₂ and (Bi,Sb)₂Te₃ was consolidated by the SPS process. Various temperature distributions in the two-layered module were simulated by solving an unsteady one-dimensional equation of heat conduction based on the obtained data of thermoelectric properties. An optimum junction point of two elements was predicted from numerical changes in the performances with the connecting position of two materials. Several materials for the electrodes were tested to find better bonding condition between the thermoelectric material and the electrode. Finally, the performances of the resulting module were measured. It was found that the performances predicted by the calculation were in fairly good agreement with the measured ones.