Experimental investigation of Seebeck effect in metakaolin-based geopolymer

Abstract

This paper reports the Seebeck effect of metakaolin-based geopolymer and discusses potential mechanisms. Results show that metakaolin-based geopolymer is a P-type thermoelectric material with very high Seebeck coefficient of around 2000 µV/°C, four orders higher than the normal PC paste. Furthermore, metakaolin-based geopolymers exhibit a superior thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of around 10−4, six orders higher than the normal PC paste. This suggests metakaolin-based geopolymer not only can be used as a thermal couple for temperature sensing but also has great potential to be used as an energy generator for thermal energy harvesting.