Geometrical Optimization and Thermal-Stability Characterization of Te-Free Thermoelectric Modules Based on MgAgSb/Mg3(Bi,Sb)2

Ying P, Reith H, Nielsch K, He R (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Small Wiley-VCH Verlag

Book Volume: 18

Article Number: 2201183

Journal Issue: 24

DOI: 10.1002/smll.202201183

Abstract

Solid-state thermoelectric (TE) technology is a promising approach to harvest low-grade waste heat (<573 K) and converts it to useful electricity in industrial and civilian settings. After decades of efforts in improving the figure-of-merit (zT) of TE materials, the development of advanced modules has started springing up in recent years. Although high-performance modules have been largely reported based on the successful material improvement, it remains less investigated how and whether the module-level designs can further increase the conversion efficiency. Herein, following the recent demonstration of a tellurium (Te)-free TE generator, an increase is demonstrated in the efficiency by reducing both the electrical and thermal energy losses through simply optimizing geometric factors of filling factor and leg-pair numbers. These module-level optimizations enable a record conversion efficiency of 8.2% under a ∆T ≈ 260 K, thus fulfilling 90% of the theoretical efficiency of the materials and solidly exceeding the Bi2Te3 modules. Furthermore, module robustness against > 10 160 thermal cycles while preserving a relative efficiency of 95% is demonstrated. These findings highlight the importance of the optimization strategy at the module level and demonstrate the feasibility of using Te-free thermoelectric compounds to harvest the omnipresent 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

Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Ying, P., Reith, H., Nielsch, K., & He, R. (2022). Geometrical Optimization and Thermal-Stability Characterization of Te-Free Thermoelectric Modules Based on MgAgSb/Mg3(Bi,Sb)2. Small, 18(24). https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202201183

MLA:

Ying, Pingjun, et al. "Geometrical Optimization and Thermal-Stability Characterization of Te-Free Thermoelectric Modules Based on MgAgSb/Mg3(Bi,Sb)2." Small 18.24 (2022).

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