Defects enable Bi₂Te₃ crystal to exhibit exceptional plasticity

Thermoelectric (TE) technology can mutually convert between heat and electricity power, exhibiting its capacity for power regeneration and cooling. However, traditional TE materials are usually brittle, limiting their applications on curved surfaces. Recent research conducted by Deng et.al. has discovered that bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃), a classic room-temperature thermoelectric material, has transformed from brittle semiconductor to plastic semiconductor through various microstructures caused by antisite defects, achieving the highest ZT value of ~ 1.05 at 300 K compared to other reported plastic semiconductors. Herein, we highlight that this work not only obtained a new high-performance plastic thermoelectric material but also provided an effective way to transform traditional brittle materials into plastic materials.