Significant enhancement in thermoelectric performance of bulk CrSi2 employing quasi-binary solid solution CrSi2/MnSi1.73

•Synthesis of CrSi2/MnSi1.73 solid solution employing Spark Plasma Sintering.•We report enhanced figure-of-merit, ZT ~ 0.29 at 673 K in CrSi2/5 wt% MnSi1.73.•Optimization of electrical and thermal transport properties for enhanced ZT. Transition metal silicides, as thermoelectric (TE) materials, offer significant advantages necessary for commercialization of TE technology beyond their niche applications. In the present study, we examine the TE prospects of a quasi-binary solid solution of CrSi2 and MnSi1.73, which are both well-known chemically stable TE materials consisting of earth-abundant and non-toxic constituent elements, synthesized using spark plasma sintering at optimized processing parameters. A state-of-the-art TE figure of merit (ZT) ~ 0.29 at 673 K at an optimized solid solution composition of CrSi2/5 wt% MnSi1.73, which is ~140% higher compared to pristine CrSi2.