Comparison of the structural and thermoelectric properties of ball-milled and co-reduced Bi1-xSbx Nanoalloys

Bi1-xSbx nanoparticles of different compositions were synthesized in order to investigate the effect of nanostructuring on the thermoelectric figure of merit. Two synthesis pathways, one top down and one bottom up, were carried out. The top down approach was done by ball-milling and the bottom up synthesis by reduction of the metal precursors in organic solvent. Both pathways led to nano sized alloy particles with the rhombohedral crystal structure R3m The influence of the reaction and pressing conditions on the structure and the thermoelectric properties was investigated for both pathways. In addition, the influence of the composition on the thermoelectric properties was studied.