Increasing Thermoelectric Efficiency by Using the Phonon-Glass/Electron-Crystal Approach

1. Increasing Thermoelectric Efficiency by Using the Phonon-Glass/Electron-Crystal Approach Jason Chiu

2. Need Generated by Brown University

3. Thermoelectricity http://www.arborsci.com/detail.aspx?ID=430

4. Seebeck Effect Generated by Cornell University

5. Efficiency of Thermoelectric Materials Generated by Tritt, 07

6. Tritt, 2007 • 60% wasted • Low efficiency still saves a lot

7. Dresselhaus et al 2007

8. Bottner et al 2006

9. Yang and Caillat 2006

10. Subramanian 2006 • Now=Bi2Te3 • Potential: Phonon-Glass/Electron-Glass approach

11. Purpose • The purpose of this experiment is to increase the efficiency of thermoelectric materials.

12. Hypothesis • Alternate: The thermoelectric material with SiO2 will show increased efficiency. • Null: The SiO2 structured material will have no effect on the the efficiency.

13. Test different thermoelectric materials: 1 created group, 2 control groups Create Silicon Dioxide Thermoelectric material Purchase Bismuth Telluride Thermoelectric module and do not change the subsrate Purchase Lead Telluride Thermoelectric module and do not change substrate Buy silicon dioxide substrates and thermoelectric elements. Then glue the SiO2 onto the thermoelectric elements to create the new material Connect each module and material to a mulitmeter. Then turn on the heat emitter and collect data after heating the module for ten minutes. Test each material one time per period. Statistical analysis using One-Way ANOVA followed by a Scheffe post hoc test to see if there is a significant difference between the proposed new material and the one’s currently being used

15. Bibliography • Bottner, Harald, Gang Chen, and Rama Venkatasubramanian. "Aspects of Thin-Film Superlattice Thermoelectric Materials, Devices, and Applications." MRS Bulletin 31 (2006): 211-17. • Brown University Center for Environmental Studies. "Fossil Fuels." Brown University. <http://www.brown.edu/Research/EnvStudies_Theses/GHG/Sections/Fossil_Fuel.htm>. • Dresselhaus, Mildred S., Gang Chen, Ming Y. Tang, Ronggui Yang, Hohyun Lee, Dezhi Wang, Zhifeng Ren, Jean-Pierre Fleurial, and Pawan Gogna. "New Directions for Low-Dimensional Thermoelectric Materials." Advanced Materials 19 (2007): 1-12. • "History." Thermoelectrics. Caltech. <http://www.thermoelectrics.caltech.edu/history_page.htm>. • Nolas, G.S., D.T. Morelli, and Terry M. Tritt. "SKUTTERUDITES: A Phonon-Glass-Electron Crystal Approach to Advanced Thermoelectric Energy Conversion Applications." Annu. Rev. Mater. Sci. 29 (1999): 89-116. • "Peltier Effect." Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, 2007. • "Seebeck." Chemistry. Institute of Chemistry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. <http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/history/seebeck.html>. • "Seebeck Effect." Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, 2007. • "Thermoelectrics (Intro to TE)." Cornell Chemistry. Cornell University. <http://www.chem.cornell.edu/fjd3/thermo/intro.html>. • Tritt, Terry M., and M.A. Subramanian. "Thermoelectric Materials, Phenomena, and Applications: A Bird's Eye View." MRS Bulletin 31 (2006): 188-98. • Tritt, Terry M., Harald Bottner, and Lidong Chen. "Thermoelectrics: Direct Solar Thermal Energy Conversion." MRS Bulletin 33 (38): 366-68. • Yang, Jihui, and Thierry Caillat. "Thermoelectric Materials for Space and Automative Power Generation." MRS Bulletin 31 (2006): 224-29. • Zhang et al. “How to recuperate industrial waste heat beyond time and space.” International Journal of Exergy, 2009; 6 (2): 214