Melt spinning: A rapid and cost effective approach over ball milling for the production of nanostructured p-type Si₈₀Ge₂₀ with enhanced thermoelectric properties

In this work, we have adopted melt-spinning technique followed by spark plasma sintering (SPS) to synthesize a p-type nanostructured Si₈₀Ge₂₀ alloy. To illustrate the impact of the technique, the results are compared with that of prepared by ball milling and subsequent SPS. The room temperature XRD of the alloys prepared by both the techniques confirms that they crystallize with diamond-like cubic structure of space group Fd3¯m. The remarkably decreased thermal conductivity and increased Seebeck coefficient results in a higher ZT of melt spun sample (nearly ∼46% higher at room temperature) as compared to the ball milled sample. The short preparation time of melt spun p-type Si₈₀Ge₂₀ alloy coupled with its enhanced thermoelectric performance indicate that this technique provides a novel strategy to improve the thermoelectric properties of SiGe alloys thus making this synthesis process of interest for commercial purposes.