Figure of merit ZT of a thermoelectric device defined from materials properties

Snyder, G. Jeffrey; Snyder, Alemayouh H.

doi:10.1039/c7ee02007d

Cited by 358 publications

(219 citation statements)

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“…It is ad imensionless number and is given by Equation (2): [6] ZT ¼ Basically,t he efficiency of at hermoelectric generator mainly depends on the efficiency of thermoelectric materials to convert heat into electricity.The thermoelectric efficiency Dr.C harles W. Dunnill is asenior lecturer at Swansea University specializing in sustainable hydrogen generation technology.Hew as awarded his Ph.D. from Glasgow University in Nanomaterials before taking up ap ostdoctoral researcher post at University College London, where he was aR amsay Fellow.Charlie advocates and researches the use of hydrogen as the perfect universal energy carrier to store, transport, and decouple renewable energy supplies from demand for energy,a sw ell as photocatalytic water splitting as amethod for solar energy harvesting.…”

Section: Thermoelectric Generatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, by looking at Equation (6), it is clear that the ZT value has av ery important role. Therefore, by looking at Equation (6), it is clear that the ZT value has av ery important role.…”

Section: Thermoelectric Generatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[31] Another straightforward methodt hat shows significant promise is the doping of foreigna toms into the host compounds. [6] Impurityd oping or alloyingi sa lso used to engineer the band structures in thermoelectric materials. The resonant levelsr epresent the energy levelst hat are formed by the dopant impurity atoms which lie either in the conduction or in the valence band of the host material.…”

Section: Recent Developmentsinthermoelectric Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Powering the Hydrogen Economy from Waste Heat: A Review of Heat‐to‐Hydrogen Concepts

Mulla

Dunnill

2019

ChemSusChem

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Ever‐increasing energy demands and environmental concerns require new and clean energy supplies, many of which are intermittent and do not correlate with demand. To balance supply with demand, a universal energy vector should be employed such that intermittent renewable energy can be stored and transported and then used when needed. Hydrogen is the perfect universal energy vector and a possible solution that ensures environmental cleanliness, maximum utilization of renewable energy sources, and high efficiency, whereby the combustion of the fuel yields only water. One abundant and freely available energy source—both anthropogenic and natural—is heat. Heat can be obtained from industrial processes and is indeed often viewed as a waste product with a premium to remove but is notoriously difficult to capture, store, and transport. Capturing and storing low‐grade heat therefore provides a significant opportunity and can be achieved by coupling thermoelectric generators and water electrolyzers. A thermoelectric generator is placed within a thermal energy gradient and produces a flow of current that is fed to the electrolysis unit with which it produces hydrogen and oxygen as the final products. The hydrogen can be stored for long periods and transported for “on‐demand” use in fuel cells for electricity from hydrogen burners for a return to thermal energy. This Review summarizes the current state‐of‐the‐art research into implementing thermoelectric generators and utilizing heat as a primary energy source to produce hydrogen, which could replace the need for extra electric power to run hydrogen production units. Furthermore, suitable requirements, modifications, and other related aspects associated with such a new and novel method of hydrogen generation are discussed. Hydrogen produced from otherwise‐wasted energy sources can be considered to be green.

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Section: Thermoelectric Generatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Thermoelectric Generatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Recent Developmentsinthermoelectric Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Powering the Hydrogen Economy from Waste Heat: A Review of Heat‐to‐Hydrogen Concepts

Mulla

Dunnill

2019

ChemSusChem

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“…Typically, TE devices made of materials with higher zT values possess better energy conversion efficiency. TE energy conversion efficiency can be calculated by the following:

η_{TE} = \frac{(T_{H} - T_{c})}{T_{H}} \frac{\sqrt{1 + \overset{true¯}{z T}} - 1}{\sqrt{1 + \overset{true¯}{z T}} + \frac{T_{C}}{T_{H}}}

, where the term

(\frac{T_{H} - T_{C}}{T_{H}})

is the Carnot efficiency,

\overset{true¯}{Z T}

is the average device figure of merit, and T H and T C are the temperatures of the hot and cold ends, respectively 1. Despite no known theoretical upper limit of zT , state‐of‐the‐art TE materials exhibit a maximum zT below 3.0 due to the inherently counterindicated {σ, S , κ e } and unsatisfactory κ L .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamic Routes to Ultralow Thermal Conductivity and High Thermoelectric Performance

Wei

Liao

et al. 2020

Advanced Materials

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Thermoelectric (TE) research is not only a course of materials by discovery but also a seedbed of novel concepts and methodologies. Herein, the focus is on recent advances in three emerging paradigms: entropy engineering, phase‐boundary mapping, and liquid‐like TE materials in the context of thermodynamic routes. Specifically, entropy engineering is underpinned by the core effects of high‐entropy alloys; the extended solubility limit, the tendency to form a high‐symmetry crystal structure, severe lattice distortions, and sluggish diffusion processes afford large phase space for performance optimization, high electronic‐band degeneracy, rich multiscale microstructures, and low lattice thermal conductivity toward higher‐performance TE materials. Entropy engineering is successfully implemented in half‐Huesler and IV–VI compounds. In Zintl phases and skutterudites, the efficacy of phase‐boundary mapping is demonstrated through unraveling the profound relations among chemical compositions, mutual solubilities of constituent elements, phase instability, microstructures, and resulting TE properties at the operation temperatures. Attention is also given to liquid‐like TE materials that exhibit lattice thermal conductivity at lower than the amorphous limit due to intensive mobile ion disorder and reduced vibrational entropy. To conclude, an outlook on the development of next‐generation TE materials in line with these thermodynamic routes is given.

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“…Improving energy conversion efficiency in thermoelectric (TE) materials can greatly enhances their prospects for extensive commercial applications . As an evaluation for energy conversion efficiency, figure‐of‐merit ( zT ) is the decisive factor to screen good TE materials, namely zT = S 2 σT / κ , where S , σ , T , and κ are the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, absolute temperature in Kelvin, and thermal conductivity, respectively . In the past decades, many novel concepts and effective experimental approaches aiming to enhance zT have emerged, such as band convergence, phonon‐glass electron‐crystal, multiscale phonon scattering, resonant states, anharmonicity, quantum confinement, and grain boundary engineering, and so on.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrahigh figure‐of‐merit of Cu₂Se incorporated with carbon coated boron nanoparticles

Islam

Yahyaoglu

et al. 2019

InfoMat

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Cu2Se based thermoelectric materials are of great potential for high‐temperature energy harvesting due to their high‐temperature figure‐of‐merit (zT). For further development of Cu2Se, both engineering and mid‐temperature figure‐of‐merit need to be improved. In this work, we report that carbon‐coated boron (C/B) nanoparticles incorporation can significantly improve both mid‐ and high‐temperature zT in Cu2Se. The nanoparticle inclusions can result in a homogeneous distribution of Cu:C:B interfaces responsible for both improvement of the Seebeck coefficient and significantly reduction in thermal conductivity. Ultrahigh mid‐ and high temperature thermoelectric performance with zT = 1.7 at 700 K and 2.23 at 1000 K as well as significantly improved engineering zT are achieved in the C/B incorporated Cu2Se with desirable mechanical properties and cycling stability. Our findings will stimulate further study and exploration for the Cu2Se based thermoelectric materials for broad applications in converting waste heat to electricity with competitive energy conversion efficiency.

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Figure of merit ZT of a thermoelectric device defined from materials properties

Abstract: The thermoelectric device ZT is calculated using a simple spreadsheet calculator.

Cited by 358 publications

References 6 publications

Powering the Hydrogen Economy from Waste Heat: A Review of Heat‐to‐Hydrogen Concepts

Powering the Hydrogen Economy from Waste Heat: A Review of Heat‐to‐Hydrogen Concepts

Thermodynamic Routes to Ultralow Thermal Conductivity and High Thermoelectric Performance

Ultrahigh figure‐of‐merit of Cu₂Se incorporated with carbon coated boron nanoparticles

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Figure of merit ZT of a thermoelectric device defined from materials properties

Abstract: The thermoelectric device ZT is calculated using a simple spreadsheet calculator.

Cited by 358 publications

References 6 publications

Powering the Hydrogen Economy from Waste Heat: A Review of Heat‐to‐Hydrogen Concepts

Powering the Hydrogen Economy from Waste Heat: A Review of Heat‐to‐Hydrogen Concepts

Thermodynamic Routes to Ultralow Thermal Conductivity and High Thermoelectric Performance

Ultrahigh figure‐of‐merit of Cu2Se incorporated with carbon coated boron nanoparticles

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Product

Resources

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Ultrahigh figure‐of‐merit of Cu₂Se incorporated with carbon coated boron nanoparticles