Nanoparticles of PbTe are prepared via chemical reaction of the equimolar aqueous solutions of Pb(CH3COO)2 and Te at 120°C. The size of the obtained particles is 100 nm after calcination in a hydrogen atmosphere. Dense specimens for the thermoelectric characterization are produced by spark plasma sintering of prepared powders at 400°C to 500°C under 80 MPa for 5 min. The relative densities of the prepared specimens reach approximately 97% and are identified as cubic based on X-ray diffraction analyses. The thermoelectric properties are evaluated between 100°C and 300°C via electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity. Compared with PbTe ingot, the reduction of the thermal conductivities by more than 30% is verified via phonon scattering at the grain boundaries, which thus contributes to the increase in the figure of merit.

Abstract To investigate the effect of mechanical alloying process to thermoelectric properties of PbTe sintered body, Pb-Te mixed powder with Pb : Te : 1 : 1 composition was mechanically alloyed using tumbler-ball mill. Thermoelectric properties of the sintered body were evaluated by measuring of the Seebeck coefficient and specific electric resistivity from the room temperature to 50. Sintered body of only mechanically alloyed PbTe powder showed p-type behavior at the room temperature, and occurred type transition from p-type to n-type at about 30. PbTe sintered body which was fabricated using heat treated powder in atmosphere after mechanical alloying showed stable n-type behavior under 50. N-type PbTe sintered body fabricated by mechanical alloying process had 4 times higher power factor than that fabricated by the melt-crushing process. Application of a mechanical alloying process to fabricate of n-type PbTe thermoelectric material seemed to be useful to increase the power factor of PbTe sintered body.

열전발전용 재료인 PbTe의 밀링 시간, 볼과 분말의 무게비에 따른 기계적 합금화 거동을 연구하였다. Pb와 Te 분말을 볼과 분말의 무게비 2 : 1에서 2분간 기계적 합금화 함으로써 PbTe 금속간 화합물의 형성이 완료되었다. 밀링 공정중 vial 표면 온도의 in situ 측정에서 기계적 합금화에 의한 PbTe 금속간 화합물의 형성이 분말 계면에서의 확산 공정보다는 합금화 반응이 자발적으로 전파하는 자전 반응에 의하여 이루어지는 것을 알 수 있었다. 기계적 합금화로 제조한 PbTe 합금분말의 격자상수는 0.6462nm로 용해 및 분쇄법으로 제조한 PbTe 분말에서 보고된 값인 0.6459nm와 잘 일치하였으며, 밀링 시간의 증가 및 볼과 분말의 무게비의 변화에 의하여 변하지않았다.