Project Details
Description
It is remarkable that almost 2/3 of utilized energy in the world is lost; most of it in the form of waste heat. In this context, thermoelectric materials present a unique opportunity to convert even a small fraction of such massive lost thermal energy to useful electricity. The thermoelectric figure of merit, which is the ratio of power factor and thermal conductivity, represents a fascinating dichotomy of “contraindicated” behavior. The project team has been at the vanguard of this field and has made significant and sustained contributions towards the fundamental understanding of the complex interplay among the thermoelectric parameters. Our collaborative work has resulted in world-record breaking ZT; accomplished by innovative strategies to significantly reduce the thermal conductivity through panoscopic all-length-scale architecturing of nanostructured thermoelectrics, which enables efficient scattering of heat carrying phonons across relevant length-scales. While further reduction in thermal conductivity may be possible, we propose that the biggest gains in thermoelectrics must now come from enhancement in power factor, primarily through advances in our scientific understanding in significantly increasing the Seebeck coefficient.
We hypothesize that alloying lead, tin and germanium chalcogenides will significantly modify the nature of both of the valence and conduction bands to achieve band convergence in the electronic structure. These systems are likely to feature multiple pockets of electrons (n-type) and holes (p-type) at or near the Fermi level through appropriate doping for large enhancements in the power factor. Coupled with the control over nanostructured phases and interfaces, these ideas provide fertile ground for innovations through a combined theoretical and experimental undertaking. In the proposed research, we will tackle the following formidable scientific objectives for the enhancement of the power factor in chalcogenides:
(i) Band-engine
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 9/1/15 → 11/30/22 |
Funding
- Department of Energy (DE-SC0014520-0006)
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