Nanocomposites from Solution‐Synthesized PbTe‐BiSbTe Nanoheterostructure with Unity Figure of Merit at Low‐Medium Temperatures (500–600 K)

A scalable, low-temperature solution process is used to synthesize precursor material for Pb-doped Bi0.7Sb1.3Te3 thermoelectric nanocomposites. The controllable Pb-doping leads to the increase in the optical bandgap, thus delaying the onset of bipolar conduction. Furthermore, the solution synthesis enables nanostructuring, which greatly reduces thermal conductivity. As a result, this material exhibits a zT = 1 over the 513–613 K range.