ABSTRACT
Studies and measurements of the electric properties of bismuth telluride and other compounds in the series were done as early as 1910. šese materials were used to produce thermoelectric refrigeration about room temperature in the early 1950s. Since extensive works were performed on a worldwide basis on the Bi2Te3-Sb2Te3-Bi2Se3-Sb2Se3 alloy systems. An e¤ort was also directed toward developing a Bi2Te3 thermoelectric material for power generation used at hot sides of about 300°C. še research results presented in the literature [1-8] show that, at room temperature, the best thermoelectric materials are solid solutions based on bismuth telluride. As a consequence of the results, the research for a value of the dimensionless ›gure of merit ZT ≤ 1 can be established for these materials. In most of the investigated samples, it is di´cult to relate the thermoelectric properties to the thermodynamic basic state of the material.
