Speaker
Description
With the improvement of efficiency and lower cost, thermoelectric devices make their way into more commercial applications. [1] They have been used to improve efficiency of cars [2], steam turbines[3] and to generate electricity in deep space exploration. [4] One of the strategies to improve the efficiency is lowering the thermal conductivity of the thermoelectric device. [5] The cost can be lowered by using earth abundant materials and switching to thin film materials. [6-8] In this work the thermal conductivity of thin films on carrier materials are investigated by the finite element method. The results show that the supporting material plays a crucial role in the devices thermal conductivity. [5] Samples of copper oxide doped with gold and samples of Titanium dioxide doped with Niobium are investigated for their electrical resistance and their Seebeck coefficient. For the $\rm TiO_x$ samples Seebeck coefficients of -80 µV/K and electrical resistivities of less than $1.1\times 10^{-3}$ Ω cm are measured. For the $\rm CuO_x$ Samples Seebeck coefficients in excess of 300 µV/K and resistivities of less than 100 kΩ cm are measured.
References
[1] V. Andrei, K. Bethke, K. Rademann, Energy Environ. Sci. 2016, 9, 1528-1532.
[2] G. J. Snyder, E. S. Toberer, Nature Materials 2008, 7, 105-114.
[3] K. Yazawa, Y. R. Koh, A. Shakouri, Applied Energy 2013, 109, 1-9.
[4] M. S. El-Genk, H. H. Saber, T. Caillat, Energy Conversion and Management 2003, 44, 1755-1772.
[5] K. Bethke, V. Andrei, K. Rademann, PLoS ONE 2016, 11(3), 1-19.
[6] V. Andrei, K. Bethke, K. Rademann, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2016, 18, 10700-10707.
[7] V. Andrei, K. Bethke, F. Madzharova, S. Beeg, A. Knop-Gericke, J. Kneipp,
K. Rademann, Adv. Electron. Mater. 2017, 3, 1600473.
[8] V. Andrei, K. Bethke, F. Madzharova, A. C. Bronneberg, J. Kneipp, K. Rade-
mann, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 9, 33308–33316.
