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Engineering of Thermoelectric Materials for Power Generation Applications

Jovovic, Vladimir
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248125874

Abstract Details

2009, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Mechanical Engineering.
The efficiency with which thermoelectric devices for power generation convert heat into electricity is governed by the quality of thermoelectric materials which is characterized the nondimensional figure of merit, zT. In this work, we develop two new high-zT material systems. First we prove experimentally that the modification of the density of states can be used to successfully increase zT of PbTe from 0.8 to 1.5 at 725K. This is achieved by doping PbTe by Tl. In this work we experimentally investigate this alloy system and other group IV-VI compound semiconductors doped with group III or rare earth elements. Experimentally measured properties are used to calculate electronic properties of materials: Fermi energy and density of states effective mass, among others. We observe pinning of Fermi energy level in IV-VI:III systems and an increase of effective mass in PbTe:Tl and PbSeTe:Tl, thus resulting in increased thermoelectric efficiency. We also identify rock-salt I-V-VI2 compounds as a class of materials with intrinsically minimum thermal conductivity. We focus on identifying electronic structure of representative of his class, AgSbTe2, by measuring de Haas – van Alphen oscillations in magnetic field. From the measured electronic structure we calculate optimal carrier density develop methods for doping this material. The result is an increase in figure of merit from 0.5 to 1.3 at 400K.
Joseph Heremans (Advisor)
Walter Lempert (Committee Member)
Igor Adamovich (Committee Member)
Vish Subramaniam (Committee Member)
167 p.
Energy; Engineering; Mechanical Engineering
Thermoelectric; energy conversion

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Jovovic, V. (2009). Engineering of Thermoelectric Materials for Power Generation Applications [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248125874

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Jovovic, Vladimir. Engineering of Thermoelectric Materials for Power Generation Applications. 2009. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248125874.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Jovovic, Vladimir. "Engineering of Thermoelectric Materials for Power Generation Applications." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248125874

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1248125874
2,091
© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.