Thermal Stability of P-Type BiSbTe Alloys Prepared by Melt Spinning and Rapid Sintering

P-type BiSbTe alloys have been widely implemented in waste heat recovery from low-grade heat sources below 600 K, which may involve assorted environments and conditions, such as long-term service, high-temperature exposure (generally 473–573 K) and mechanical forces. It is important to evaluate the service performance of these materials in order to prevent possible failures in advance and extend the life cycle. In this study, p-type Bi(0.5)Sb(1.5)Te(3) commercial zone-melting (ZM) ingots were processed by melt spinning and subsequent plasma-activated sintering (MS-PAS), and were then subjected to vacuum-annealing at 473 and 573 K, respectively, for one week. The results show that MS-PAS samples exhibit excellent thermal stability when annealed at 473 K. However, thermal annealing at 573 K for MS-PAS specimens leads to the distinct sublimation of the element Te, which degrades the hole concentration remarkably and results in inferior thermoelectric performance. Furthermore, MS-PAS samples annealed at 473 K demonstrate a slight enhancement in flexural and compressive strengths, probably due to the reduction of residual stress induced during the sintering process. The current work guides the reliable application of p-type Bi(0.5)Sb(1.5)Te(3) compounds prepared by the MS-PAS technique.