Overview of Various Strategies and Promising New Bulk Materials for Potential Thermoelectric Applications

2001 ◽  
Vol 691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry M. Tritt

ABSTRACTRecently, there has been a renewed interest in thermoelectric material research. There are a number of different systems of potential thermoelectric (TE) materials that are under investigation by various research groups. Some of these research efforts focus on minimizing lattice thermal conductivity while other efforts focus on materials that exhibit large power factors. An overview of some of the requirements and strategies for the investigation and optimization of a new system of materials for potential thermoelectric applications will be discussed. Some of the newer concepts such as low-dimensional systems and Slack's phononglass, electron-crystal concept will be discussed. Current strategies for minimizing lattice thermal conductivity and also minimum requirements for thermopower will be presented. The emphasis of this paper will be to identify some of the more recent promising bulk materials and discuss the challenges and issues related to each. This paper is targeted more at “newcomers” to the field and does not discuss some of the very interesting results that are being reported in the thin film and superlattice materials. Some of the bulk materials which will be discussed include complex chalcogenides (e.g.CsBi4Te6 and pentatellurides such as the Zr1−XHfXTe5 system), half-Heusler alloys (e.g. TiNiSn1−XSbX), ceramic oxides (NaCo4O2), skutterudites (e.g. YbXCo4−XSb12 or EuXCo4−XSb12) and clathrates (e.g. Sr8Ga16Ge30). Each of these systems is distinctly different yet each exhibits some prospect as a potential thermoelectric material. Results will be presented and discussed on each system of materials.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun-Liang Chen ◽  
Hengquan Yang ◽  
Chengyan Liu ◽  
Jisheng Liang ◽  
Lei Miao ◽  
...  

Abstract Half-Heusler alloys, which possess the advantages of high thermal stability, large power factor and good mechanical property, have been attracted increasing interest in mid-temperature thermoelectric application. In this work, the extra Zr-doped TiZrxNiSn samples were successfully prepared by a modified solid-state reaction followed by spark plasma sintering. It demonstrates that extra Zr doping could not only improve the power factor on account of an increase in Seebeck coefficient but also suppress the lattice thermal conductivity originated from the strengthened phonon scattering by the superlattice nanodomains and the secondary nanoparticles. As a consequence, an increased power factor of 3.29 mW m− 1 K− 2 and a decreased lattice thermal conductivity of 1.74 W m− 1 K− 1 are achieved in TiZr0.015NiSn, leading to a peak ZT as high as 0.88 at 773 K and an average ZT value up to 0.62 in the temperature range of 373 − 773 K. This work gives a guidance for optimizing the thermoelectric performance of TiNiSn-based alloys by modulating the microstructures on the secondary nanophases and superlattice nanodomains.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Un-Gi Jong ◽  
Chol-Hyok Ri ◽  
Chol-Jin Pak ◽  
Chol-Hyok Kim ◽  
Stefaan Cottenier ◽  
...  

In the search for better thermoelectric materials, metal phosphides have not been considered to be viable candidates so far, due to their large lattice thermal conductivity. Here we study thermoelectric...


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 12632-12638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuo Wang ◽  
Kunpeng Zhao ◽  
Pengfei Qiu ◽  
Qingfeng Song ◽  
Lidong Chen ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (48) ◽  
pp. 20849-20854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gangjian Tan ◽  
Fengyuan Shi ◽  
Hui Sun ◽  
Li-Dong Zhao ◽  
Ctirad Uher ◽  
...  

SnTe–AgBiTe2 is not only a solid solution but a nanocomposite. The alloying effect coupled with intense interface scattering leads to considerably decreased lattice thermal conductivity. Bi is much more powerful in neutralizing holes than Sb, giving rise to a much higher Seebeck coefficient. A high ZT was then obtained.


2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simen N. H. Eliassen ◽  
Ankita Katre ◽  
Georg K. H. Madsen ◽  
Clas Persson ◽  
Ole Martin Løvvik ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (8) ◽  
pp. 2831-2836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Chen ◽  
Wenhua Xue ◽  
Shan Li ◽  
Zongwei Zhang ◽  
Xiaofang Li ◽  
...  

Zintl compounds are considered to be potential thermoelectric materials due to their “phonon glass electron crystal” (PGEC) structure. A promising Zintl-phase thermoelectric material, 2-1-2–type Eu2ZnSb2 (P63/mmc), was prepared and investigated. The extremely low lattice thermal conductivity is attributed to the external Eu atomic layers inserted in the [Zn2Sb2]2- network in the structure of 1-2-2–type EuZn2Sb2(P3¯m1), as well as the abundant inversion domain boundary. By regulating the Zn deficiency, the electrical properties are significantly enhanced, and the maximum ZT value reaches ∼1.0 at 823 K for Eu2Zn0.98Sb2. Our discovery provides a class of Zintl thermoelectric materials applicable in the medium-temperature range.


2001 ◽  
Vol 691 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Bhattacharya ◽  
Y. Xia ◽  
V. Ponnambalam ◽  
S.J. Poon ◽  
N. Thadani ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTHalf-Heusler alloys are currently being investigated for their potential as thermoelectric materials [1], [2]. They exhibit high negative thermopower (40-250μV/K) and favorable electrical resistivity (0.1-8mW•cm) at room temperature. Attractive power factors (α2σT) of about (0.2-1.0W/m•K) at room temperature and about 4W/m•K at 600K [3] have been reported in these materials. But in order to achieve a high figure-of-merit in the half-Heusler alloys, the relatively high thermal conductivity in these materials (∼ 10 W/m•K) must be reduced. The thermal conductivity in these materials is composed of mainly a lattice contribution, compared to a very small electronic component. The challenge is to reduce the relatively high lattice thermal conductivity in these materials. Reported in this paper is a significant reduction of lattice thermal conductivity (∼1.5 - 3.5W/m•K) in some Ti-based half-Heusler alloys. Samples have been prepared by ball milling and followed by shock-compaction that has resulted into reduced grain sizes in these materials. The effects of the microstructure on the thermal transport properties of the Half-Heusler alloys have been investigated and are presented and discussed herein.


2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 1339-1348
Author(s):  
Jingpeng Li ◽  
Yiming Zhou ◽  
Shiqiang Hao ◽  
Tianyan Zhang ◽  
Chris Wolverton ◽  
...  

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