Towards tellurium-free thermoelectric modules for power generation from low-grade heat

Ying P, He R, Mao J, Zhang Q, Reith H, Sui J, Ren Z, Nielsch K, Schierning G (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Nature Communications Nature Publishing Group: Nature Communications

Book Volume: 12

Article Number: 1121

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21391-1

Abstract

Thermoelectric technology converts heat into electricity directly and is a promising source of clean electricity. Commercial thermoelectric modules have relied on Bi2Te3-based compounds because of their unparalleled thermoelectric properties at temperatures associated with low-grade heat (<550 K). However, the scarcity of elemental Te greatly limits the applicability of such modules. Here we report the performance of thermoelectric modules assembled from Bi2Te3-substitute compounds, including p-type MgAgSb and n-type Mg3(Sb,Bi)2, by using a simple, versatile, and thus scalable processing routine. For a temperature difference of ~250 K, whereas a single-stage module displayed a conversion efficiency of ~6.5%, a module using segmented n-type legs displayed a record efficiency of ~7.0% that is comparable to the state-of-the-art Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric modules. Our work demonstrates the feasibility and scalability of high-performance thermoelectric modules based on sustainable elements for recovering low-grade heat.

Involved external institutions

Leibniz-Institut für Festkörper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden e.V. (IFW) / Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden DE Germany (DE) University of Houston US United States (USA) (US) Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) / 哈工大 CN China (CN)

How to cite

APA:

Ying, P., He, R., Mao, J., Zhang, Q., Reith, H., Sui, J.,... Schierning, G. (2021). Towards tellurium-free thermoelectric modules for power generation from low-grade heat. Nature Communications, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21391-1

MLA:

Ying, Pingjun, et al. "Towards tellurium-free thermoelectric modules for power generation from low-grade heat." Nature Communications 12.1 (2021).

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