Towards an ab initio calculation of elemental thermocouple output

Abstract

A simple model is presented for the calculation of the temperature dependence of the thermopower of metals on an ab initio basis, which includes an accurate calculation of the electronic density of states. The aim is to predict the temperature dependence of the electromotive force generated by the elemental thermocouples Au/Pt and Pt/Pd, by calculating the thermopower of Pt, Au, and Pd. The model is compared with the measured thermopower in each case, and found to be qualitatively accurate. It is suggested that the accuracy of the model is limited principally by the ab initio calculation of the electronic density of states of the model.