  Thermoelectric properties of polycrystalline p-type ZrTe5 are reported in
temperature (T) range 2 - 340 K. Thermoelectric power (S) is positive and
reaches up to 458 uV/K at 340 K on increasing T. The value of Fermi energy 16
meV, suggests low carrier density of ~ 9.5 X 10^18 cm-3. A sharp anomaly in S
data is observed at 38 K, which seems intrinsic to p-type ZrTe5. The thermal
conductivity value is low (2 W/m-K at T = 300 K) with major contribution from
lattice part. Electrical resistivity data shows metal to semiconductor
transition at T ~ 150 K and non-Arrhenius behavior in the semiconducting
region. The figure of merit zT (0.026 at T = 300 K) is ~ 63% higher than HfTe5
(0.016), and better than the conventional SnTe, p-type PbTe and bipolar
pristine ZrTe5 compounds.
