Effects of Dimensionality Reduction for High-Efficiency Mg-Based Thermoelectrics

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been significant interest in the field of thermoelectric materials (TEs) owing to their use in clean and sustainable energy sources for cooling and/or power generation applications. Especially, Mg2XIV (XIV = Si, Ge, Sn) based TEs are promising candidates for middle-temperature range energy conversion due to their high thermoelectric performance, environmentally harmless, abundant raw materials, non-toxicity, and relatively inexpensive cost of modules. In this book chapter, we present an overview of the theoretical background of the thermoelectric transport properties (Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and thermoelectric figure of merit ZT) of magnesium-based bulk and low dimensional systems (i.e., quantum wells and quantum wires). A detailed description of the temperature-dependent Fermi level both in extrinsic and intrinsic regimes will be provided whereby it is the primary step in deriving the thermoelectric transport parameters of materials. Following the linearized Boltzmann transport equations temperature-dependent electronic transport properties (Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and electronic thermal conductivity) of materials under the energy-dependent relaxation time approximation will be defined. By employing Debye’s isotropic continuum model within the single mode relaxation time approximation including various phonon relaxation rates contributed by different scattering mechanisms the lattice contribution to the thermal conductivity will be included.