Material pairing and selection considerations for thermoelectric cooling devices with components dissimilar to Bi2Te3 based alloys

Pan, Zhenyu; Cui, R.; Xiao, Xuejiao; Wang, Heng

doi:10.1016/j.mtphys.2021.100457

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Thermoelectric materials are a type of functional materials that utilize the Seebeck effect and the Peltier effect to convert heat into electric energy and vice versa. − The performance of thermoelectric materials is represented by the dimensionless figure of merit (ZT), ZT = α 2 σT /( κ L + κ c ), where α, σ, κ c , κ L , and T represent the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, carrier thermal conductivity, lattice thermal conductivity, and absolute temperature, respectively. A high ZT value across a wide temperature range is desirable for a higher power conversion efficiency in thermoelectric devices. − To achieve this, besides robust electronic transport properties, a low lattice thermal conductivity is crucial. − The maximum efficiency η is related to the applied temperature gradient (Carnot efficiency) and ZT value , where T C , T H , and ZT M represent the cold side temperature, hot side temperature, and average ZT over the working temperature of the thermoelectric device …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cold-Sintered Bi₂Te₃-Based Materials for Engineering Nanograined Thermoelectrics

Zhu

Shu

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Energy Mater.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bi2Te3-based compounds are currently the most commercially relevant thermoelectric materials near room temperature. They are prepared via hot pressing, hot deformation, spark plasma sintering, and other consolidation processes, which are typically performed at 400–500 °C. Such high-temperature processes are energy-intensive and generate unnecessary waste heat, making them undesirable for a large-scale production. In this study, a low-temperature liquid-phase-assisted sintering (or so-called cold-sintering) process was employed to fabricate p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 bulk materials at temperatures below 150 °C. At the optimal sintering temperature (130 °C), a ZT value as high as 0.56 at 450 K can be achieved, competitive to that of a commercial Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 ingot (ZT 0.8–1.0). The addition of a small amount of transient liquid facilitates grain reorientation and expedites a mass transfer process under axial compaction and liquid evaporation conditions, thus resulting in nearly fully densified Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 pellet samples (>97% theoretical density). Furthermore, the low-temperature sintering process results in the reduction of grain size and promotes twin boundaries, resulting in a low lattice thermal conductivity of 0.57 W m–1 K–1 at 380 K due to phonon scattering. The strategy reported in this work can be used not only as a substitute for high-temperature sintering of other thermoelectric materials but also to engineer phonon scattering for high-performance thermoelectrics.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cold-Sintered Bi₂Te₃-Based Materials for Engineering Nanograined Thermoelectrics

Zhu

Shu

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Energy Mater.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[4,5] Bismuth telluride (Bi 2 Te 3 ) and its alloys are state-of-the-art room-temperature TE materials, and are quite promising for low-grade waste heat recovery. [6][7][8][9][10][11] Persistent efforts have been devoted to improving their zT values, including manipulation of the fabrication processes, [12,13] fine-tuning the chemical doping, [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] and nanostructuring. [13] In particular, enhanced average zTs have been obtained in Bi 2 Te 3 -based composites with various kinds of nano-carbon materials, for example, carbon nanotubes, [28][29][30] carbon fibers, [31] and nano-SiC.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Design as a Route for Promoting the Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ for High‐Performance Thermoelectric Power Generation

Wang

Cheng

Yin

et al. 2022

Adv Funct Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bismuth telluride alloys favor the applications of low-grade waste heat recovery if their figure-of-merits are improved within the larger temperature range from 300 to 523 K. Herein, this work reports a synergistic optimization for Bi 0.5 Sb 1.5 Te 3 (BST) by incorporating the copper(II) phthalocyanine (CuPc), which is preferentially distributed at the grain boundary of BST after the spark plasma sintering process and suppresses the grain growth of BST. The lattice thermal conductivity of composites is then extensively reduced by the multiscale scattering induced by the CuPc. In addition, the Cu atoms diffuse into the lattice of BST and increase the whole concentration, thus suppressing the bipolar effect. As a result, the average zT value is effectively enhanced from 0.7 to 1.1 in the temperature range between 300 and 523 K. A high conversion efficiency of 6.8% is achieved in a single BST/CuPc 5 leg, which is 41.7% higher than that of BST at temperature different ΔT = 223 K. This result proves that the composition optimization of the BST/CuPc is a promising strategy to improve the application of BST-based TE modules.

show abstract

“…In reality, however, keeping in mind that greater z is always preferred, and transport physics determines what values α could be. For inorganic semiconductors, |α| is often around 250 µV/K when zT is at its peak for a compound as the carrier density is optimized, this can be shown from transport theory as well as survey of known examples [21] . In a previous work [22] , we evaluated the possible difference in COP caused by differences in α from hypothetical, homogeneous materials, where it changes within a realistic range (note this doesn't mean a real material is available).…”

Section: ∇Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Optimization of Thermoelectric Devices and its Dependence on Materials Properties

Wang¹

2022

MatLab

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this perspective, we discuss the optimized performance of thermoelectric cooling devices and how it is affected by materials properties. The discussion is based on simulations using a numerical method with one dimensional transport equations and the concept of relative current density. The coefficient of performance (COP), representing the efficiency of a device, is of key importance such that when designing a new type of device, it is the parameter to be maximized, whereas others such as the cooling power, can be set by adjusting the dimensions of the design. The COP of a single stage device under a given temperature difference, is only determined by the materials’ figure of merit zT (or z) and the Seebeck coefficient . While it is the higher the better for the former, the influence of  is complicated. While higher zTs are always preferred, materials with comparably high zT and very different  could be valuable in constructing graded legs that outperform uniform ones. Lastly, proper pairing of legs is important to ensure the materials properties are used to their full potential.

show abstract

Material pairing and selection considerations for thermoelectric cooling devices with components dissimilar to Bi2Te3 based alloys

Cited by 8 publications

References 29 publications

Cold-Sintered Bi₂Te₃-Based Materials for Engineering Nanograined Thermoelectrics

Cold-Sintered Bi₂Te₃-Based Materials for Engineering Nanograined Thermoelectrics

Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Design as a Route for Promoting the Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ for High‐Performance Thermoelectric Power Generation

Performance Optimization of Thermoelectric Devices and its Dependence on Materials Properties

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Material pairing and selection considerations for thermoelectric cooling devices with components dissimilar to Bi2Te3 based alloys

Cited by 8 publications

References 29 publications

Cold-Sintered Bi2Te3-Based Materials for Engineering Nanograined Thermoelectrics

Cold-Sintered Bi2Te3-Based Materials for Engineering Nanograined Thermoelectrics

Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Design as a Route for Promoting the Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 for High‐Performance Thermoelectric Power Generation

Performance Optimization of Thermoelectric Devices and its Dependence on Materials Properties

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Cold-Sintered Bi₂Te₃-Based Materials for Engineering Nanograined Thermoelectrics

Cold-Sintered Bi₂Te₃-Based Materials for Engineering Nanograined Thermoelectrics

Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Design as a Route for Promoting the Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ for High‐Performance Thermoelectric Power Generation