Fabrication of segmented p-type AgSbTe/sub 2//Sb/sub 2/Te/sub 3//Bi/sub 0.4/Sb/sub 1.6/Te/sub 3/ thermoelectric module and its performance

A segmented p-type AgSbTe/sub 2//Sb/sub 2/Te/sub 3//Bi/sub 0.4/Sb/sub 1.6/Te/sub 3/ module was fabricated by a pulse discharge sintering (PDS) process in order to develop the high performance module for thermoelectric power generation. The interface conditions of the segmented modules were observed with an optical microscope and SEM. Electrical properties of the segmented modules and the single modules of AgSbTe/sub 2/, Sb/sub 2/Te/sub 3/ and Bi/sub 0.4/Sb/sub 1.6/Te/sub 3/ were measured and compared. The ideal designs and prospective performances about the segmented modules were estimated with the simulation based on one-dimensional thermal conductive analysis. In this study, we obtained some segmented modules with good interfaces. The validity of segmented module was confirmed, and measured electrical properties had good agreement with predicted ones.