Abstract:In this work, we synthesized cubic perovskite ceramics of the whole La 1-x Sr x CoO 3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) solid solution for the first time. Synthesis was carried out by solid state reaction and conventional sintering to reach dense ceramics. For x > 0.8, it was necessary to substitute 3% cobalt by silicon to stabilize the cubic perovskite structure. Electrical conductivity increased with Sr content to reach 3×10 5 S·m -1 at 330 K for x = 0.3. However, the optimum electrical properties have been found for x = 0.05 at 330 K with PF max = 3.11×10 -4 W·m -1 ·K -2 . Indeed, the Seebeck coefficient was decreasing when x increased to reach values close to 0 for x ≥ 0.3. Thermal conductivity was low at low temperature (≈ 2.5 Wm -1 ·K -1 ) and increased up to 6.5 W·m -1 ·K -1 when temperature increased. As the highest power factor was reached at low temperature as well as the lowest thermal conductivity, La 1-x Sr x CoO 3 compounds with low x values appeared as very promising thermoelectric materials around room temperature, on the contrary to layered cobalt oxides. For high x values, Seebeck coefficient values close to zero made these materials unsuitable for thermoelectric applications.
Increasing the maximum cooling effect of a Peltier cooler can be achieved through materials and device design. The use of inhomogeneous, FGM (functionally graded materials) may be adopted in order to increase maximum cooling without improvement of the zT (figure of merit), however these systems are usually based on the assumption that the local optimization of the zT is the suitable criterion to increase thermoelectric performances. In the present paper, we solved the heat equation in a graded material and performed both analytic and numerical analysis of a graded Peltier cooler. We find a local criterion that we used to assess the possible improvement of graded materials for thermoelectric cooling. A fair improvement of cooling effect is predicted for semiconductor materials (up to 36%) and the best graded system for cooling is described. The influence of the equation of state of the electronic gas of the material is discussed, and the difference in term of entropy production between the graded and the classical system is also described.
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