Thermoelectric properties of textured N-type Bi2(Te,Se)3 prepared by spark plasma sintering method

N-type Bi-2 (Te, Se)(3) thermoelectric material was prepared by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) method, using polycrystalline material prepared by zone-melting method as the starting powders. The orientation degree was analyzed by XRD and SEM observation. Thermoelectric properties, including Seebeck coefficient (alpha), electrical conductivity (sigma) and thermal conductivity (kappa), were measured in the temperature range of 300 K similar to500K. The mechanical property was measured by three-point bending method. Compared with those of zone-melted material, the thermoelectric properties of the sintered material were slightly decreased, while the bending strength was highly improved from about 10 MPa to 80 MPa.