Preparation and optimization of thermoelectric properties of Bi2Te3 based alloys using the waste particles as raw materials from the cutting process of the zone melting crystal rods

The p-type Bi2Te3 alloys were prepared using the waste particles from the cutting process of the zone melting crystal rods as the main raw materials by impurity removal process including washing, carbon monoxide reduction and vacuum metallurgical process. The thermoelectric properties of the Bi2Te3 based bulk materials were optimized by component adjustment, second smelting and resistance pressing sintering (RPS) process. All evidences confirmed that most of impurities from the line cutting process and the oxidation such as Sb2O3, Bi2O3 and Bi2Te4O11 could be removed by carbon monoxide reduction and vacuum metallurgical process adopted in this work, and the recycling yield was higher than 97%. Appropriate component adjustment treatment was used to optimize the carrier content and corresponding thermoelectric properties. Lastly, a Bi0.36Sb1.64Te3 bulk was obtained and its power factor (PF) could reach 4.24 mW m(-1) K-2 at 300 K and the average PF value was over 3.2 mW m(-1) K-2 from 300 K to 470 K, which was equivalent with the thermoelectric performance of the zone melting products from high purity elements Bi, Te and Sb. It was worth mentioning that the recovery process introduced here was a simple, low-cost, high recovery rate and green recycling technology.