synthesis and characterization of lead telluride powder produced by mechanical alloying

Lead telluride-based alloys have the best thermoelectric properties for intermediate temperature applications (500–900 k). we report on the preparation of pristine pbte by mechanical alloying. in this work, nanocrystalline lead telluride powder was synthesized from high-purity elements by mechanical alloying by means of a planetary ball-milling procedure. the milling medium was stainless steel, and the time of the milling was varied in order to investigate the effect on the formation time of the desired phases. phase transformations and crystallite evolution during ball-milling were followed by powder x-ray diffraction (pxrd). the broadened pxrd peaks were analyzed with the williamson-hall method, revealing small crystalline size and introduced stress during the mechanical alloying process.