Relationship between thermoelectric figure of merit and energy conversion efficiency

Kim, Hee Seok; Liu, Weishu; Chen, Gang; Chu, Ching-Wu; Ren, Zhifeng

doi:10.1073/pnas.1510231112

Relationship between thermoelectric figure of merit and energy conversion efficiency

Journal Article · Mon Jun 22 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510231112· OSTI ID:1235148

Kim, Hee Seok ^[1]; Liu, Weishu ^[1]; Chen, Gang ^[2]; Chu, Ching-Wu ^[3]; Ren, Zhifeng ^[1]

Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5002,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139,
Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5002,, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720

Significance

Thermoelectric materials generate electricity from temperature gradients. The dimensionless figure of merit, ZT = S ² ρ ⁻¹ κ ⁻¹ T , is calculated from the Seebeck coefficient ( S ), electrical resistivity ( ρ ), and thermal conductivity ( κ ). The calculated efficiency based on ZT using the conventional formula is not reliable in some cases due to the assumption of temperature-independent S , ρ , and κ . We established a new efficiency formula by introducing an engineering figure of merit ( ZT ) _eng and an engineering power factor ( PF ) _eng to predict reliably and accurately the efficiency of materials at a large temperature difference between the hot and cold sides, unlike the conventional ZT and PF providing performance only at specific temperatures. These new formulas will profoundly impact the search for new thermoelectric materials.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0010831; SC0001299

OSTI ID:: 1235148

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1371004

Journal Information:: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 27 Vol. 112; ISSN 0027-8424

Publisher:: Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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