Abstract: Systems and methods discussed herein relate to Pb—Se based thermoelectric materials for use in thermoelectric applications, the thermoelectric materials may comprise one or more dopants and are ball-milled into a powder and hot-pressed to form pressed components. The pressed components comprise improved room temperature properties, including a ZT above about 0.5 from about 300 K to about 780 K, which leads to improved device efficiency and overall function.

Abstract: Disclosed is a thermoelectric material according to various SSnSe-based formulas, and the systems and methods of manufacturing the thermoelectric, high performance material by hot pressing materials according to various formulas in order to obtain a figure of merit (ZT) suitable for thermoelectric applications at high (above 600K) temperatures. A disclosed method comprises hot-pressing a powder that comprises Sn and Se in a predetermined direction to form a pressed component, wherein the pressed component comprises a ZT value of at least 0.8 above about 750 K.