Thermoelectric converter: Strategies from materials to device application

Wu, Zhenhua; Zhang, Shuai; Liu, Zekun; Mu, Erzhen; Hu, Zhiyu

doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.106692

Cited by 169 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 132 publications

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“…Various strategies including low-dimensionalization, defect engineering, energy band engineering, electronphonon critical scattering effect, high-entropy effect, and magnetothermal-electric coupling, have been proposed to improve the zT value of thermoelectric materials. 4 Theoretically, the above strategy boils down to modulate the behavior of electrons and phonons. The zT values of medium or high-temperature bulk thermoelectric materials such as GeTe, PbTe, and SnSe reported by experiments have exceeded 2 (>500 K), and the SnSe system with the highest zT value has reached 3.1.…”

Section: Current Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The zT values of medium or high-temperature bulk thermoelectric materials such as GeTe, PbTe, and SnSe reported by experiments have exceeded 2 (>500 K), and the SnSe system with the highest zT value has reached 3.1. 4,5 Up to now, Bi 2 Te 3 alloys and their derivatives are still the best thermoelectric systems near room temperature. The zT value of Bi 2 Te 3 -based materials used in commercial bulk thermoelectric devices is around 1 with a conversion efficiency of around 5%.…”

Section: Current Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…can be fabricated into micro-thermoelectric devices in combination with MEMS technology. 4,[11][12][13] The integration challenge of up to tens of thousands of thermoelectric thin-film couples with a thickness of ∼1 μm has been achieved. 14 Generally, thermoelement with a long length is favorable for establishing large temperature differentials to achieve high conversion efficiencies.…”

Section: Current Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perspective— Powerful Micro/Nano-Scale Heat Engine: Thermoelectric Converter on Chip

2022

ECS Sens. Plus

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As heat engines, thermoelectric converters can utilize a large amount of free low-grade thermal energy in the environment to generate electricity cleanly and quietly, contributing to a sustainable low-carbon life. They can also act as refrigerators and sensors based on their special ability to reversibly convert heat to electricity. Attractively, thermoelectric converters fabricated by microelectromechanical system technology exhibit more powerful potential when reaching the micro/nano-scale owing to the characteristics of electrons and phonons transport, with cost-effective mass manufacturing advantages. Thermoelectric converters will play an increasingly important role in extensive fields with a bright future.

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Section: Current Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Current Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Current Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perspective— Powerful Micro/Nano-Scale Heat Engine: Thermoelectric Converter on Chip

2022

ECS Sens. Plus

Self Cite

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“…However, the ZT value of commercial Bi2Te3-based materials is restricted to ~1 at room temperature owing to the adverse interdependence of the Seebeck coefficient, electrical and thermal conductivity. 4,5 Since Bi2Te3-based bulk materials with nanostructure have been demonstrated to be one of the best room-temperature TE materials with the highest ZT~1.4 at 300 K, [6][7][8] they possess large-scale application prospects for TE generators and refrigerators. Moreover, the bulk TE devices are usually made of mechanically cut Bi2Te3-based pellets, whose elastic strain maxima are experimentally reported to be half lower than the theoretical limit of 5.5%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced thermoelectric properties of Bi2Te3-based micro-nano fibers via thermal drawing and interfacial engineering

Sun

Tang

Wang

et al. 2022

Preprint

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High-performance thermoelectric (TE) materials with great flexibility and stability are urgently needed to efficiently convert heat energy into electrical power. Recently, intrinsically crystalline, mechanically stable, and flexible inorganic TE fibers that show TE properties comparable to their bulk counterparts are of interest to researchers. Despite remarkable progress moving TE fibers towards room-temperature TE conversion, the figure-of-merit value (ZT) and bending stability still need enhancement. Herein, we report interfacial engineering enhanced thermoelectric properties of micro-nano polycrystalline TE fibers fabricated by thermally drawing Bi2Te3-based bulks in a glass-fiber template. The interfacial engineering effect comes from generating stress-induced oriented nanocrystals to increase electrical conductivity and producing strain-distorted interfaces to decrease thermal conductivity. The resulting fibers achieve a 40% higher ZT (~1.4 at 300 K) than their bulk counterparts and show a reversible bending radius of 50 µm, approaching the theoretical elastic limit. This fabrication strategy works for a wide range of inorganic TE materials and benefits the development of fiber-based micro-TE devices.

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“…With the capability of direct conversion from thermal energy to electrical energy through the movement of internal phonons and charge carriers, thermoelectric (TE) materials are widely researched and used in cogeneration, electronic refrigeration and thermal sensors [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Thus, TE materials play an increasingly crucial part in sustainable development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing Thermoelectric Properties of (Cu2Te)1−x-(BiCuTeO)x Composites by Optimizing Carrier Concentration

et al. 2022

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Because of the high carrier concentration, copper telluride (Cu2Te) has a relatively low Seebeck coefficient and high thermal conductivity, which are not good for its thermoelectric performance. To simultaneously optimize carrier concentration, lower thermal conductivity and improve the stability, BiCuTeO, an oxygen containing compound with lower carrier concentration, is in situ formed in Cu2Te by a method of combining self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) with spark plasma sintering (SPS). With the incorporation of BiCuTeO, the carrier concentration decreased from 8.1 × 1020 to 3.8 × 1020 cm−3, bringing the increase of power factor from ~1.91 to ~2.97 μW cm−1 K−2 at normal temperature. At the same time, thermal conductivity reduced from 2.61 to 1.48 W m−1 K−1 at 623 K. Consequently, (Cu2Te)0.95-(BiCuTeO)0.05 composite sample reached a relatively high ZT value of 0.13 at 723 K, which is 41% higher than that of Cu2Te.

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Thermoelectric converter: Strategies from materials to device application

Cited by 169 publications

References 132 publications

Perspective— Powerful Micro/Nano-Scale Heat Engine: Thermoelectric Converter on Chip

Perspective— Powerful Micro/Nano-Scale Heat Engine: Thermoelectric Converter on Chip

Enhanced thermoelectric properties of Bi2Te3-based micro-nano fibers via thermal drawing and interfacial engineering

Enhancing Thermoelectric Properties of (Cu2Te)1−x-(BiCuTeO)x Composites by Optimizing Carrier Concentration

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