All-inorganic nanocrystals as a glue for BiSbTe grains: design of interfaces in mesostructured thermoelectric materials.

Nano- and mesostructuring is widely used in thermoelectric (TE) materials. It introduces numerous interfaces and grain boundaries that scatter phonons and decrease thermal conductivity. A new approach has been developed for the rational design of the interfaces in TE materials by using all-inorganic nanocrystals (NCs) that serve as a "glue" for mesoscopic grains.