Preparation and Thermoelectric Properties of Flower-Like Nanoparticles of Ce-Doped Bi2Te3

Ce-doped CexBi2-xTe3 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) 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 examined. The results showed that Ce-doping increased the power factor effectively at low temperature; however, the thermal conductivity of the nanopowder too increased because of the lighter atomic mass of Ce compared to Bi. As a result, a ZT value of 1.22, higher than that of the undoped sample, was attained at 386 K for the Ce0.1Bi(1.9)Te(3) sample.