Figure 1: Survey of zT for elemental thermoelectrics.
From: Tellurium as a high-performance elemental thermoelectric
Temperature-dependent figure of merit (zT) for p-type ploycrystalline tellurium with different carrier concentrations shown in a unit of cm−3 (a). Both low temperature Bi/Bi–Sb alloys40 and high temperature Si (ref. 37)/Si–Ge alloys39 are included for comparison. p-type tellurium studied here shows a highest zT n the temperature range from 300 to 700 K, largely relies on its inherently nested valence bands (H4 and H5) as shown in b. The overlying lines in a are included to guide the eye.