Abstract
A facile energy-saving route is developed for fabricating Sb(2)Te(3)-Te nanocomposites and nanosized Te powders. The fabrication route not only avoids using organic chemicals, but also keeps the energy consumption to a minimum. The fabrication procedure involves two steps. Energetic precursors of nanosized powders of Sb and Te are produced at room temperature followed by hot pressing at 400°C under 70 MPa for 1 h. The resulting Sb(2)Te(3)-Te nanocomposite exhibits enhanced power factor. The dimensionless figure of merit zT value of the Sb(2)Te(3)-Te nanocomposite is 0.29 at 475 K.