Temperature-dependent structural property and power factor of n type thermoelectric Bi0.90Sb0.10 and Bi0.86Sb0.14 alloys

Thermal variation of structural property, linear thermal expansion coefficient, resistivity, thermopower and power factor of polycrystalline Bi1-xSbx (x=0.10, 0.14) samples are reported. Temperature-dependent powder diffraction experiments indicate that samples do not undergo any structural phase transition. Rietveld refinement technique has been used to perform detailed structural analysis. Temperature dependence of thermal expansion coefficient is found to be stronger for Bi0.90Sb0.10. Also, power factor for direct band gap Bi0.90Sb0.10 is higher as compared to that for indirect band gap Bi0.86Sb0.14. Role of electron-electron and electron-phonon scattering on resistivity, thermopower and power factor have been discussed.