Mechanical Alloying has been utilised to develop powder for the production of bulk thermoelectric silicides, proving the possibility to customise electrical/thermal properties by means of powder nanostructure, precipitation of nano-phases during powder sintering and inclusion of nano-oxides in the intermetallic matrix.

The Mechanical Alloying process has been done in MBN nanomaterials, on proprietary ball mill design, and scaled-up for the production of 30kg/day of powder. The plant has been optimised for the specific materials and specific technologies have been adopted to perform all the production steps (i.e. ball milling, powder sieving, corse powder grinding, packaging) in controlled inert atmosphere.

The possibility to recycle sintered scraps, resulted from the production of ring shaped TE components, has been also demonstrated.