Enhanced thermoelectric power factor in wet chemical synthesized Sb2Te3 by the incorporation of (GO/r-GO)

Abstract

Present work deals with the thermoelectric transport properties of bare and (GO/r-GO) composites of Sb2Te3 synthesized via simple wet chemical method at the temperature of 100 degrees C. The presence of (GO/r-GO) in the as synthesized samples has been confirmed by Raman spectra, FE-SEM (NOVA NANOSEM 450) images and reduction in the intensity of XRD (Advanced D8 Bruker) diffraction peaks of the composites. Due to the addition of (GO/r-GO), power factor increased with the maximum value of 2.14 mu W/cmK(2) and 2.48 mu W/cmK(2) at 50 degrees C for Sb2Te3@GO and Sb2Te3@r-GO respectively. The results show that the maximum power factor of the Sb2Te3@rGO composite is about 35% higher than the bare Sb2Te3. This study provides the simple and effective method for the synthesis of graphene based composite thermoelectric materials and is a promising means of achieving synergistic enhancement of the thermoelectric performance levels by increasing the power factor.