Facile Control of Interfacial Energy-Barrier Scattering in Antimony Telluride Electrodeposits

The augmented thermoelectric performance of nanocrystalline antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) films is investigated by introducing interfacial energy-barrier scattering (i.e., barrier heights), which occurs at both the grain boundaries and the interfaces with embedded second phases. It is postulated that the barriers created at both the interfaces and boundaries filter the low-energy carriers, thus favoring a high Seebeck coefficient. A facile, but high-precision composition-controlled electrodeposition technique is employed to synthesize single-phase nanocrystalline Sb2Te3 and nanocomposite Te/Sb2Te3. Both the initial composition of the Sb-Te solid solution and the post-annealing profiles are varied to control the grain size, as well as the formation of second-phase Te. The electrical and thermoelectric properties are measured and correlated with the physical properties, where an enhanced Seebeck coefficient at a fixed carrier concentration is interpreted as indicating that the energy-dependent carrier filtering effect is in force. On a promising note, modification of the Sb2Te3 film physical properties and formation of the second phase affect the interfacial energy-barrier scattering and yields an enhanced power factor. Thus, Sb2Te3 film is a promising p-type thermoelectric material for a room-temperature-operational micro-thermoelectric power generator.