Fabrication Of Thermoelectric Generators Research Articles

Progress and perspectives in thermoelectric generators for waste-heat recovery and space applications

The direct conversion of thermal energy into electrical current via thermoelectric (TE) effects relies on the successful integration of efficient TE materials into thermoelectric generators (TEGs) with optimized characteristics to ensure either optimum output power density or conversion efficiency. Successfully employed for powering deep-space probes and extraterrestrial rovers since the 1960s, the development of this technology for waste-heat-harvesting applications faces several key issues related to the high temperatures and oxidizing conditions these devices are subjected to. This Perspective provides a brief overview of some prospective thermoelectric materials/technologies for use in radioisotope thermoelectric generators utilized in space missions and highlights the progress made in the field over the last years in the fabrication of TEGs. In particular, we emphasize recent developments that enable to achieve increased power densities, thereby opening up novel research directions for mid-range-temperature applications. In addition to showing how using lower quantities of TE materials may be achieved without sacrificing device performance, we provide an outlook of the challenges and open questions that remain to be addressed to make this technology economically and technologically viable in everyday-life environments.

Synthesis of Nb0.8Hf0.2FeSb0.98Sn0.02 and Hf0.25Zr0.25Ti0.5NiSn0.98Sb0.02 Half-Heusler Materials and Fabrication of Thermoelectric Generators

In this study, half-Heusler (HH) thermoelectric materials Nb0.8Hf0.2FeSb0.98Sn0.02 (p-type) and Hf0.25Zr0.25Ti0.5NiSn0.98Sb0.02 (n-type) were synthesized using induction melting and spark plasma sintering. For alloying, a conventional induction melting technique was employed rather than arc melting, for mass production compatibility, and the thermoelectric properties of the materials were analyzed. The maximum dimensionless figures of merit (zTmax) were 0.75 and 0.82 for the p- and n-type material at 650 oC and 600 oC, respectively. These materials were then used to fabricate generator modules, wherein two pairs of p- and nlegs without interfacial metal layers were brazed on direct bonded copper (DBC)/Al2O3 substrates using a Zrbased alloy. A maximum power of 0.57 W was obtained from the module by applying a temperature gradient of 476 oC, which corresponds to a maximum power density of 1.58 W cm -2 when normalized by the area of the material. The maximum electrical conversion efficiency of the module was 3.22% at 476 oC temperature gradient. This value was negatively affected by the non-negligible contact resistivity of the brazed interfaces, which ranged from 6.63 × 10 -9 Ωm2 to 7.54 × 10 -9 Ω m2 at hot-side temperatures of 190 oC and 517 oC, respectively. The low electrical resistivity of the HH materials makes it especially important to develop a brazing technique for ultralow resistance contacts.

Cold Spray Deposition of Thermoelectric Materials

Thermoelectric materials convert heat flux to electricity (or vice versa as Peltier coolers); however, their application to harvest waste heat is limited by challenges in fabrication and materials optimization. Here, cold-spray deposition is used as an additive manufacturing technique to fabricate p- and n-type Bi2Te3, on substrates ranging from quartz to aluminum. The sprayed material has a randomly oriented microstructure largely free from pores (> 99.5% dense), and deposition is achieved without substantial compositional changes. The Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity are largely preserved through the spray process, but the defects introduced during deposition significantly increase electrical resistivity. Defects can be removed, and compressive strain relaxed by a post-deposition anneal, which leads to Bi2Te3 blocks with a typical ZT of 0.3 at 100°C. Generators fabricated on sheets or pipes made of copper compare favorably with similar designs constructed using bulk Bi2Te3, displaying a wider operating temperature range. These results demonstrate the power and versatility of cold-spray additive manufacturing and provide a pathway toward fabrication of thermoelectric generators in complex geometries that are inaccessible to generators made by traditional approaches.

Electrical Contact Resistance of Electroless Nickel to Nanocrystalline Silicon and the Fabrication of a Thermoelectric Generator

ABSTRACTWe present the fabrication of a high-temperature stable thermoelectric generator based on nanocrystalline silicon. Highly doped silicon nanoparticles were sintered by a current activated sintering technique to get nanocrystalline bulk silicon. The metalization of silicon was realized by (electro-)chemical plating and the specific electrical contact resistance ρc of the semiconductor-metal interface was measured by a transfer length method. Values as low as $\rho _C < 1 \cdot 10^{ - 6} \,\Omega cm^2 $ were measured. The metalized nanocrystalline silicon legs were sintered to metalized ceramic substrates using a silver-based sinter paste. The device figure of merit of the thermoelectric generator was determined by a Harman measurement with a maximum ZT of approximately 0.13 at 600 °C.

Study on the Fabrication and Characterization of LAST and LASTT Based Thermoelectric Generators

AbstractThermoelectric modules are of great interest for power generation applications where temperature gradients of approximately 500K exist, and hot side temperatures near 800K. The fabrication of such modules requires optimization of the material compositions, low contact resistivities, and low thermal loss.AgPbmSbTe2+m (LAST) and Ag(Pb1-xSnx)m SbTe2+m (LASTT) compounds are among the best known materials appropriate for this temperature range. Various measurement systems have been developed and used to characterize bulk samples in the LAST and LASTT systems within this operating temperature range. From the characterized data, modeling of modules based on these materials and segmented legs using LAST(T) with Bi2Te3 have been used to identify the optimal geometry for the individual legs, and the length of the Bi2Te3 segments. We have segmented LAST(T) with Bi2Te3 and achieved contact resistivities of less than 10 μΩ•cm2.Here we give a detailed presentation on the procedures used in the fabrication of thermoelectric generators based on LAST, LASTT, and segmented with Bi2Te3 materials. We also present the output data on these generators.

Pyrolysis of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) binder in thermoelectric green tapes

The pyrolysis of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) binder and other organic additives in thermoelectric green tapes, are analysed through differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and published results of fourier transformer infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Based on these analyses the optimum balance of binder degradation mechanism, heating rate, burnout temperature and burnout atmosphere were determined. The maximum upper temperature at which pyrolysis can take place in an oxidising atmosphere, was imposed at 450°C, to avoid the risk of oxidising the thermoelectric material above this temperature, which could degrade its thermoelectric properties. Thermoelectric cast green tapes made with PVB formulation were found to leave char residue after pyrolysis at 450°C, estimated to be almost 20% of the total PVB content in the tape. Different pyrolysis atmospheres of air, argon, CO 2 and Ar/H 2O were used to minimise the char content. The best pyrolysis for the PVB was obtained with the use of CO 2 atmosphere at 450°C with a hold-out time of 5 h, which reduced the char residue to only 1%. Even with this small percentage, the char residue was in the form of a very fine black powder (soot) which covered the thermoelectric material powder in the tape, preventing its densification at the later stages of the sintering process. It was therefore concluded that the PVB system was not a suitable binder candidate to be used in the fabrication of thermoelectric generator by the tape casting method.

The design and fabrication of a miniature thermoelectric generator using MOS processing techniques

The fabrication of thermoelectric generators using standard MOS thin film technology is described. Process sequences are presented for generators based on both silicon on sapphire and polycrystalline silicon on quartz substrates; the active elements being formed in both cases by ion implantation of alternate n-type and p-type regions. Device performance is evaluated and presented for both types of converter in terms of conversion efficiency and voltage and power outputs as a function of temperature difference. For thermoelements with a carrier concentration of 5*1019 cm-3 the overall Seebeck coefficient for a single thermocouple is approximately 500 mu V K-1 for both silicon on sapphire and silicon on quartz. Extrapolation of results indicates that voltage and current levels suitable for powering a microelectronic circuit (i.e. greater than 1 mu A at 1 V) can be obtained from a chip of dimensions 0.5 cm*1 cm*0.045 cm. The use of polycrystalline silicon on quartz as opposed to silicon on sapphire has been shown to offer two major advantages. Firstly, due to the high thermal resistivity of quartz, the conversion efficiency of the resulting silicon on quartz chip is greater than for the silicon on sapphire case. For a substrate of dimensions 0.5 cm*1 cm*0.045 cm the improvement in device efficiency is almost 50 fold. Secondly, material costs are reduced when polycrystalline silicon on quartz is adopted, whilst, since the actual processing sequences are similar, manufacturing costs will remain approximately the same.