Abstract
Thermoelectric materials have been the topic of intensive research due to their unique dual capability of directly converting heat into electricity or electrical power into cooling or heating. Bismuth telluride ($Bi_2Te_3$) is the best-known commercially used thermoelectric material in the bulk form for cooling and power generation applications In this work we focus on the large scale synthesis of nanostructured undoped bulk nanostructured $Bi_2Te_3$ materials by employing a novel bottom-up solution-based chemical approach. Spark plasma sintering has been employed for compaction and sintering of $Bi_2Te_3$ nanopowders, resulting in relative density of $g{\cdot}cm^{-3}$ while preserving the nanostructure. The average grain size of the final compacts was obtained as 200 nm after sintering. An improved NS bulk undoped $Bi_2Te_3$ is achieved with sintered at $400^{\circ}C$ for 4 min holding time.
