Carriers concentration tailoring and phonon scattering from n-type zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoinclusion in p- and n-type bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3): Leading to ultra low thermal conductivity and excellent thermoelectric properties
Bi2Te3 (p- and n- type) nanocomposites with 5 vol% nanosized ZnO are fabricated via ball milling and spark plasma sintering. Ultra low lattice thermal conductivity (0.22–0.3 W/mK2) is obtained in both materials. An enhancement (30%) of ZT values (∼1.3) can be achieved in composite material compared with p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 ingot.