Thermoelectric properties of I-doped n-type Bi2Te3-based material prepared by hydrothermal and subsequent hot pressing

I-doped Bi2Te3−xIx (x=0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2) flower-like nanoparticles were synthesized by a hydrothermal method through a careful adjustment of the amount of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid surfactant. The nanopowders of flower-like nanoparticles were hot-pressed into bulk pellets and the thermoelectric properties of the pellets were investigated. The results showed that I-doping decreased the electrical resistivity effectively, and the thermal conductivitives of the Bi2Te3−xIx bulk samples was lower because of the closer atomic mass of I compared to Te. As a result, a ZT value of 1.1 was attained at 448 K for the Bi2Te2.9I0.1 sample.