Nonequilibrium Thermoelectrics: Low-Cost, High-Performance Materials for Cooling and Power Generation

Conference · Wed May 18 00:00:00 EDT 2011

OSTI ID:1025436

Li, Q

Thermoelectric materials can be made into coolers (TECs) that use electricity to develop a temperature difference, cooling something, or generators (TEGs) that convert heat directly to electricity. One application of TEGs is to place them in a waste heat stream to recuperate some of the power being lost and putting it to use more profitably. To be effective thermoelectrics, however, materials must have both high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity, a combination rarely found in nature. Materials selection and processing has led to the development of several systems with a figure of merit, ZT, of nearly unity. By using non-equilibrium techniques, we have fabricated higher efficiency thermoelectric materials. The process involves creating an amorphous material through melt spinning and then sintering it with either spark plasma or a hot press for as little as two minutes. This results in a 100% dense material with an extremely fine grain structure. The grain boundaries appear to retard phonons resulting in a reduced thermal conductivity while the electrons move through the material relatively unchecked. The techniques used are low-cost and scaleable to support industrial manufacturing.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE - OFFICE OF SCIENCE
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC02-98CH10886
• OSTI ID: 1025436
• Report Number(s): BNL-95133-2011-CP; KC0201030; TRN: US201120%%515
• Resource Relation: Conference: Technology Ventures Corporation Equity Capital Symposium; Albuquerque, NM; 20110518 through 20110518
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CAPITAL
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRONS
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
HEAT EXCHANGERS
MANUFACTURING
PERFORMANCE
PHONONS
PLASMA
POWER GENERATION
PROCESSING
SINTERING
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
THERMOELECTRIC MATERIALS
WASTE HEAT