Intermediate Band Thermoradiative Cells

Abstract

A new model of the intermediate band thermoradiative cell (IBTRC) is put forward. Expressions for the power output density (POD) and efficiency of the IBTRC are derived. The current densities and PODs arising from the normal transitions and interband transitions of electrons are compared. It is found that when the IBTRC with a bandgap of 0.2 eV is operated between the heat source at 1000 K and the surroundings at 300 K, the maximum POD and efficiency of the cell are approximately <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.583\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.096\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> of those of the thermoradiative cell without intermediate bands (IBs) under the same operating temperature and bandgap, respectively. This shows that the performance of the IBTRC can be largely improved by the insert of the IB. Moreover, the optimal selection criteria of some key parameters are provided, and then the optimum operating conditions of the IBTRC are determined. Finally, several issues that will influence the performances of the IBTRC are pointed out. These results may help engineers to fabricate high-performance IBTRCs.