TY - JOUR N2 - The dispersion of nanoparticles in the host matrix is a novel approach to enhance the thermoelectric performance. In this work, we incorporate the TiC (x = 0, 1 and 2 wt.%) nanoparticles into a p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 matrix, and their effects on microstructure and thermoelectric properties were systematically investigated. The existence of TiC contents in a base matrix was confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis. The grain size decreases with increasing the addition of TiC content due to grain boundary hardening where the dispersed nanoparticles acted as pinning points in the entire matrix. The electrical conductivity significantly decreased and the Seebeck coefficient was slightly enhanced, which attributes to the decrease in carrier concentration by the addition of TiC content. Meanwhile, the lowest thermal conductivity of 0.97 W/mK for the 2 wt.% TiC nanocomposite sample, which is ~16% lower than 0 wt.% TiC sample. The maximum figure of merit of 0.90 was obtained at 350 K for the 0 wt.% TiC sample due to high electrical conductivity. Moreover, the Vickers hardness was improved with increase the addition of TiC contents. L1 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/111317/PDF/AMM-2019-2-20-Hong.pdf L2 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/111317 PY - 2019 IS - No 2 EP - 557 DO - 10.24425/amm.2019.127577 KW - Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 alloys KW - nanocomposites KW - ball milling KW - spark plasma sintering KW - thermoelectric properties A1 - Nagarjuna, Cheenepalli A1 - Madavali, Babu A1 - Lee, Myeong-Won A1 - Yoon, Suk-Min A1 - Hong, Soon-Jik PB - Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of Polish Academy of Sciences PB - Committee of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of Polish Academy of Sciences VL - vol. 64 DA - 2019.06.27 T1 - Reduction of Thermal Conductivity through the Dispersion of TIC Nanoparticles into a p-Type BI0.5SB1.5TE3 Alloy by Ball Milling and Spark Plasma Sintering SP - 551 UR - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/111317 T2 - Archives of Metallurgy and Materials ER -