Broadening the optimum thermoelectric power generation range of p-type sintered Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 by suppressing bipolar effect

Bi2Te3-based compounds are well-known commercial thermoelectric materials near room temperature. However, the strong intrinsic excitations above 400 K severely deteriorate the ZT values and limit the applications of thermoelectric power generation. Here, we choose divalent Pb as an acceptor impurity to improve the thermoelectric performance of p-type Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 sintered materials at higher temperature. Tiny Pb doping not only obviously...