Spark plasma sintering of PbTe thermoelectric bulk materials with small grains

PbTe is a conventional thermoelectric material for thermoelectric generator at intermediate temperature. Small grain size effect has been reported to improve PbTe ZT values (figure of merit). We report a combination process of attrition milling and spark plasma sintering (SPS) for preparing PbTe bulk materials with small grain sizes. The PbTe powders were milled by attrition under 600 rpm for 6-96 h and followed by SPS process under the sintering temperature of 573-773 K, the heating rate of 100 K/min, and the sintering pressure of 50 MPa. The powders and bulk materials as-prepared were then studied by X-ray diffraction patterns, scanning electron microscopy images, and transmission electron microscopy images. Transport properties of polycrystalline PbTe bulks were evaluated through temperature dependent thermal conductivity measurements.