Refractory All-Ceramic Thermal Emitter for High-Temperature Near-Field Thermophotovoltaics

Abstract

Thermophotovoltaics is a promising technology for heat recovery and has garnered tremendous attention in the last decades. This work theoretically evaluates the performance of a thermophotovoltaic system equipped with refractory all-ceramic selective thermal emitters made of boron carbide, silicon carbide and beryllium oxide for a high working temperature of 2000 ∘C, which corresponds to the external quantum efficiency of a SiC/Si tandem cell. The influence of thickness and filling ratio on the emissivity of thermal emitters over the wavelength ranging from 0.2 μm to 2.5 μm is studied. The corresponding spectral heat flux and output power are analyzed as well. For a specific configuration, the parameters for the thermophotovoltaic system are obtained, including short circuit current, open circuit voltage, fill factor, total heat flux, output power and conversion efficiency. The proposed all-ceramic thermal emitter ensures the robustness in the high-temperature working condition due to its thermal stability. The tuning of emissivity is achieved and analyzed based on distinct emitter nanostructures, and the further influence on the thermophotovoltaic system performance is deeply explored. This work sheds light on research of high-temperature thermal management and power generation.

Influence of substrate effect on near-field radiative modulator based on biaxial hyperbolic materials

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A Simultaneous Material‐Device Optimization for Plasmonic Devices: A Combined Ab Initio and Electromagnetic Simulation for Photothermal Transducers

“…In this context, practical applications of spectroscopic infrared nanodevices have also been adopted widely in both fundamental research and in industry. Among them we can list up solar heat transducers, [ 6 ] thermophotovoltaic cells, [ 7–9 ] molecular sensors, [ 10–12 ] wavelength selective perfect absorbers, and thermal emitters. [ 13,14 ] Conventional metals such as Au, Ag, Al, and Cu have been extensively investigated, especially for their excellent plasmonic response in the ultraviolet–visible region.…”