Patent ID: 8435429

Claim:
A process for a forming a bismuth telluride thermoelectric component, the process comprising: providing a plurality of core-shell nanoparticles; the core of the plurality of core-shell nanoparticles containing a material selected from a group consisting of silica (SiO 2 ), metals, semiconductors, insulators, ceramics, carbon, polymers and combinations thereof; the shell of the plurality of core-shell nanoparticles containing bismuth telluride; and sintering the plurality of core-shell nanoparticles within a temperature range between 375° C. and 425° C. and a pressure range between 40 MPa and 60 MPa; the sintering resulting in a bismuth telluride thermoelectric component having a combined γ×S 2 >30,000 at 150° C. where γ is the electrical conductivity in siemens per meter (S/m) and S is the Seebeck coefficient in microvolts per degree Kelvin (μV/K).