High Performance Thermoelectric Materials: Progress and Their Applications

Yang, Lei; Chen, Zhigang; Dargusch, Matthew S.; Zou, Jin

doi:10.1002/aenm.201701797

Cited by 655 publications

(473 citation statements)

References 445 publications

(1,162 reference statements)

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“…As displayed in Figure i, in order to simulate the thermal state of human body, a piece of pork is placed in a copper plate connected with a thermostat water bath at a temperature of 310 K, which ensures that the temperature of pork muscle tissue is about 37 °C, similar to that of human body, and the surface skin of pork is exposed to the room environment; a TEG is parallel to the skin surface and put in junction between the fat layer and tissue layer of the pork, and the temperatures are recorded via four thermocouples. When reaching a stable state, the temperature difference between two sides of the TEG is 0.5 K and the generated TE voltage is 3.3 mV showing excellent TE performance, which plays a great guiding and driving role in the application of implanted TEGs medically …”

Section: Applications Of Tegsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, Performance, and Application of Thermoelectric Nanogenerators

Zhang

Wang

Yang

2019

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Thermal energy harvesting from the ambient environment through thermoelectric nanogenerators (TEGs) is an ideal way to realize self‐powered operation of electronics, and even relieve the energy crisis and environmental degradation. As one of the most significant energy‐related technologies, TEGs have exhibited excellent thermoelectric performance and played an increasingly important role in harvesting and converting heat into electric energy, gradually becoming one of the hot research fields. Here, the development of TEGs including materials optimization, structural designs, and potential applications, even the opportunities, challenges, and the future development direction, is analyzed and summarized. Materials optimization and structural designs of flexibility for potential applications in wearable electronics are systematically discussed. With the development of flexible and wearable electronic equipment, flexible TEGs show increasingly great application prospects in artificial intelligence, self‐powered sensing systems, and other fields in the future.

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Section: Applications Of Tegsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, Performance, and Application of Thermoelectric Nanogenerators

Zhang

Wang

Yang

2019

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“…In such an FTE device, the substrates are flexible and insulating in order to provide the devices with flexibility, which guarantees interference‐free carrier transport within the TE legs; the TE legs are in the form of thin films, which can be adapted for device flexibility; the electrodes are applied to connect n‐ and p‐type TE legs in series; and the bonding interfaces stabilize the TE legs and electrodes . Moreover, the Seebeck effect is the primary enabling physical phenomenon that facilities the function of FTE devices as potential body‐temperature monitors by transferring body‐temperature changes into an output voltage signal . By using the reverse Seebeck effect (the so‐called Peltier effect), FTE devices can also be applied in flexible temperature‐control systems, which can be used in microclimate systems that maintain the body‐temperature in extreme conditions, medical devices such as cooling blankets, and emerging portable electronic devices that require cooling .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexible Thermoelectric Materials and Generators: Challenges and Innovations

et al. 2019

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The urgent need for ecofriendly, stable, long‐lifetime power sources is driving the booming market for miniaturized and integrated electronics, including wearable and medical implantable devices. Flexible thermoelectric materials and devices are receiving increasing attention, due to their capability to convert heat into electricity directly by conformably attaching them onto heat sources. Polymer‐based flexible thermoelectric materials are particularly fascinating because of their intrinsic flexibility, affordability, and low toxicity. There are other promising alternatives including inorganic‐based flexible thermoelectrics that have high energy‐conversion efficiency, large power output, and stability at relatively high temperature. Herein, the state‐of‐the‐art in the development of flexible thermoelectric materials and devices is summarized, including exploring the fundamentals behind the performance of flexible thermoelectric materials and devices by relating materials chemistry and physics to properties. By taking insights from carrier and phonon transport, the limitations of high‐performance flexible thermoelectric materials and the underlying mechanisms associated with each optimization strategy are highlighted. Finally, the remaining challenges in flexible thermoelectric materials are discussed in conclusion, and suggestions and a framework to guide future development are provided, which may pave the way for a bright future for flexible thermoelectric devices in the energy market.

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“…The data in Figure 5a show that the highest zT value of ≈1.1 at ≈870 K was achieved for the SnS crystal with the Na content of x = 0.02. [40,41] According to theoretical calculations, [35] a higher zT value (≈1.9 at 800 K) for SnS single crystal samples along the b-axis direction could be realized by combining improved doping efficiencies for the higher PF with the reduced total thermal conductivity via forming solid solutions. [39] As shown in Figure S3 (Supporting Information) and Figure 5b, we compared the highest zT values and the average zT values obtained with our SnS single crystals to corresponding values of several representative metal sulfides except superionic conductors as reported in the previous literature.…”

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confidence: 99%

Sodium‐Doped Tin Sulfide Single Crystal: A Nontoxic Earth‐Abundant Material with High Thermoelectric Performance

Wang

et al. 2018

Advanced Energy Materials

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the total thermal conductivity consisting of the lattice part (κ L ) and the electronic part (κ e ). [6] Some of these parameters (S, ρ, and κ e ), however, are mutually interdependent and strongly coupled by way of the carrier concentration, making it difficult to attain high TE performance (zT) without making some compromise. Fortunately, in the past decade, several general strategies have been developed to achieve high zT in various materials. [7,8] Lowering the lattice thermal conductivity (κ L ), which is relatively independent of other parameters, is a comparatively easy method. Other well-documented methods for enhancing phonon scattering include nanostructuring, [9][10][11] dislocations, [12,13] point defects, [14][15][16][17] and strong lattice anharmonicity. [18][19][20] Additional strategies to boost the power factor (S 2 ρ −1 ) include carrier concentration optimization, [21,22] band convergence, [23,24] and creating band resonance levels. [25] Typically, practical TE materials are polycrystalline structures with grain boundaries that help to maintain a low lattice thermal conductivity but inevitably also degrade the charge carrier mobility. Recently, bulk SnSe [26][27][28][29][30] and In 4 Se 3[31] single crystals have attracted increasing amounts of attention. The layered structure and strong lattice anharmonicity of these materials cause ultralow lattice thermal conductivity, independent of grain boundary phonon scattering. Therefore, such single crystalline compounds are expected to yield superior performance as both high mobility and low lattice thermal conductivity can be maintained simultaneously. For instance, the ultrahigh zT of Lead-free tin sulfide (SnS), with an analogous structure to SnSe, has attracted increasing attention because of its theoretically predicted high thermoelectric performance. In practice, however, polycrystalline SnS performs rather poorly as a result of its low power factor. In this work, bulk sodium (Na)-doped SnS single crystals are synthesized using a modified Bridgman method and a detailed transport evaluation is conducted. The highest zT value of ≈1.1 is reached at 870 K in a 2 at% Na-doped SnS single crystal along the b-axis direction, in which high power factors (2.0 mW m −1 K −2 at room temperature) are realized. These high power factors are attributed to the high mobility associated with the single crystalline nature of the samples as well as to the enhanced carrier concentration achieved through Na doping. An effective single parabolic band model coupled with first-principles calculations is used to provide theoretical insight into the electronic transport properties. This work demonstrates that SnS-based single crystals composed of earth-abundant, low-cost, and nontoxic chemical elements can exhibit high thermoelectric performance and thus hold potential for application in the area of waste heat recovery.

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High Performance Thermoelectric Materials: Progress and Their Applications

Cited by 655 publications

References 445 publications

Design, Performance, and Application of Thermoelectric Nanogenerators

Design, Performance, and Application of Thermoelectric Nanogenerators

Flexible Thermoelectric Materials and Generators: Challenges and Innovations

Sodium‐Doped Tin Sulfide Single Crystal: A Nontoxic Earth‐Abundant Material with High Thermoelectric Performance

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