Thermoelectric transport control with metamaterial composites

Abstract

The control of thermal and electric currents is important for many devices and applications. Being able to independently direct the two flows under simultaneous thermal and voltage gradients is, however, difficult when coupling via thermoelectric effects is present in the material. Here, we present a general computational scheme for the design of composites whose constituent materials follow a simple circuit theory of in-parallel and in-series connected transport properties capable of enhancing or inhibiting electric and thermal currents in a desired direction. We show that using the geometry of the flow, thermoelectric metamaterials for controlling currents can be designed using individual components. Controlling the thermoelectrically coupled electric and thermal currents in terms of different flow directions can be significantly optimized by exploring the dissimilarity of the transport properties of the different components.

A Recent Review of the Sandwich-Structured Composite Metamaterials: Static and Dynamic Analysis

“…They provide focusing and shielding impacts as they are strongly localised in longitudinal, bending, and rotational modes. Multi-structures are potentially helpful for protecting sensitive infrastructure like nuclear reactors [42]. Various practical fields, from noise control to architectural acoustics, greatly benefit from sound diffusers with uniform angular distributions of acoustic intensity.…”

Colossal variations in the thermopower and n–p conductivity switching in topological tellurides under pressure

“…Possible electronic states of HgTe include: (i) n-type conductor and (ii) p-type conductor in the normalpressure sphalerite phase, and (iii) p-type insulator in the high-pressure cinnabar phase [Figs. [1][2][3]. Plots (b)-(e) illustrate that by applying a hard indenter tool (that can generate high stresses) to sample surface (b), one can "print out" areas with desirable conductivity type.…”

“…Controlling the electrical currents, which depend on the type and magnitude of electrical conductivity and the thermopower of materials, is crucially important for many semiconductor appliances. 1 Therefore, different methods, which allow effectively control the electrical conductivity magnitude and its type (p-or n-) in various industrially relevant semiconductors, would open up prospects to novel applications. For instance, a possibility of elegant and reversible switching, the conductivity type in individual microor nanoscopic semiconductor elements will allow one to create in the future a new generation of p-n switches, p-n diode elements, n-p-n (p-n-p) transistors, memory appliances, and various multilayer heterostructures with alternating types of electrical conductivity.…”

Thermoelectric efficiency of anisotropic materials with an application in layered systems

“…Cloaks, rotators, and concentrators of thermal, electric, and TE transport have been proposed and some of these effects have been demonstrated in the laboratory [7][8][9][10][11]. Using selected design principles for these composites, pathways for independent control of coupled via the Seebeck effect thermal and electric flow have also been proposed [12]. Specifically, arranging layered materials whose components have properties chosen to follow in-series and in-parallel rules from circuit theory can be utilized to direct the thermoelectrically coupled electric and heat flows in predetermined separate directions.…”