Thermoelectric properties of the hot-pressed Bi2(Te0.85Se0.15)3 alloy with addition of BN powders

Thermoelectric properties of the hot-pressed Bi-2(Te0.85Se0.15)(3) alloy were investigated with the addition of BN powders as phonon scattering centers. The Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity of the alloy increased as the volume fraction of BN increased. Although the thermal conductivity of the alloy decreased as the volume fraction of BN increased due to the reduction of kappa (el), the lattice thermal conductivity varied little. The figure-of-merit of the alloys, 1.6x10(3)/K without the addition of BN, decreased as the volume fraction of BN increased because the increment of the electrical resistivity was much larger than the decrement of the thermal conductivity due to grain refinement.