Influence of Nanostructuration on PbTe Alloys Synthesized by Arc-Melting

PbTe-based alloys have the best thermoelectric properties for intermediate temperature applications (500-900 K). We report on the preparation of pristine PbTe and two doped derivatives (Pb_0.99Sb_0.01Te and Ag_0.05Sb_0.05Pb_0.9Te, so-called LAST18) by a fast arc-melting technique, yielding nanostructured polycrystalline pellets. XRD and neutron powder diffraction (NPD) data assessed the a slight Te deficiency for PbTe, also yielding trends on the displacement factors of the 4a and 4b sites of the cubic Fm-3m space group. Interestingly, SEM analysis shows the conspicuous formation of layers assembled as stackings of nano-sheets, with 20-30 nm thickness. TEM analysis shows intra-sheet nanostructuration on the 50 nm scale in the form of polycrystalline grains. Large numbers of grain boundaries are created by this nanostructuration and this may contribute to reduce the thermal conductivity to a record-low value of 1.6 Wm^-1K^-1 at room temperature. In LAST18, a positive Seebeck coefficient up to 600 μV K^-1 at 450 K was observed, contributing further towards improving potential thermoelectric efficiency.