Solidification processing of Te-Sb-Pb alloys for thermoelectric applications

A solidification processing approach to the refinement of lead-tellurium-antimony alloy microstructure is described. Liquid alloys with eutectic, hyper-eutectic and hypo-eutectic compositions (relative to lead) were cooled to the solid state in three distinct ways, i.e. by water quenching, air cooling and furnace cooling. The structures of the alloys resulting from the three different solidification paths were examined using electron microscopy and the micrographs were quantified. Classical solidification methods were used to interpret the structures in relation to the cooling histories.