A Review of Key Properties of Thermoelectric Composites of Polymers and Inorganic Materials

Abstract

This review focusses on the development of thermoelectric composites made of oxide or conventional inorganic materials, and polymers, with specific emphasis on those containing oxides. Discussion of the current state-of-the-art thermoelectric materials, including the individual constituent materials, i.e., conventional materials, oxides and polymers, is firstly presented to provide the reader with a comparison of the top-performing thermoelectric materials. Then, individual materials used in the inorganic/polymer composites are discussed to provide a comparison of the performance of the composites themselves. Finally, the addition of carbon-based compounds is discussed as a route to improving the thermoelectric performance. For each topic discussed, key thermoelectric properties are tabulated and comparative figures are presented for a wide array of materials.

Influence of Thermal Annealing on Mechanical and Optical Property of SiO2 Film Produced by ALD

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Accelerated measurement of electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient for thin-layer thermoelectric materials

“…It has irreplaceable advantages in the fields of waste heat recovery, long-term power supply for deep space exploration or heart pacemakers, and precise temperature control in micro-areas [1][2][3]. Its widespread use provides a greener solution for achieving carbon neutrality goals [4,5]. The performance of TE materials is determined by the dimensionless figure of merit: ZT = α 2 T/ρκ, where α is the Seebeck coefficient, T is the absolute temperature, ρ is the electrical resistivity, κ is the thermal conductivity 1 L Y and D W Y contributed equally to this work.…”