A process for producing a thermoelectric material based on two or more elements selected in the group constituted by Bi, Sb, Te and Se, which process comprises: i. an alloying step wherein determined amounts of the elements Bi, Sb, Te or Se are mixed until an homogenous powdered alloy is obtained; ii. an extrusion step of the powdered homogenous alloy obtained in the preceding step. The elements Bi, Sb, Te or Se being preferably mechanically mixed in an homogenous powdered alloy. The thermoelectric material, which are obtainable by this process, exhibits improved thermoelectric and mechanical properties and are therefore suitable, for example, as cooler, as temperature stabilizer in a electronic device or as power generator.
The present invention is generally directed to nanocomposite thermoelectric materials that exhibit enhanced thermoelectric properties. The nanocomposite materials include two or more components, with at least one of the components forming nano-sized structures within the composite material. The components are chosen such that thermal conductivity of the composite is decreased without substantially diminishing the composite's electrical conductivity. Suitable component materials exhibit similar electronic band structures. For example, a band-edge gap between at least one of a conduction band or a valence band of one component material and a corresponding band of the other component material at interfaces between the components can be less than about 5k.sub.BT, wherein k.sub.B is the Boltzman constant and T is an average temperature of said nanocomposite composition.
