Effect of Polymer Granulation on Powder Fluidity and Thermoelectric Performance of Bi₂Se_0.3Te_2.7

In this paper, the influence of polymer granulation on the thermoelectric properties of Bi₂Se_0.3Te_2.7 was studied by mixing the polyvinyl alcohol solution(PVA) and n type Bi₂Se_0.3Te_2.7 powder in varous proportions. The results show that the particle size and the fluidity of the powder increase significantly after granulation, where the best fluidity occurs when the mass ratio of PVA to Bi₂Se_0.3Te_2.7 at 1 :10. The variation of electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity of the bulk samples before and after granulation is less than 10%, which results in a little changed maximum ZT about 0.56 at 475K.