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Clemson University

Theses/Dissertations

Thermoelectrics

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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Multi-Scale Defect Engineering And Interface Modifications For Enhancement Of Thermoelectric Properties In Nanostructured Bulk Materials, Pooja Puneet Aug 2013

Multi-Scale Defect Engineering And Interface Modifications For Enhancement Of Thermoelectric Properties In Nanostructured Bulk Materials, Pooja Puneet

All Dissertations

Among various static energy conversion technologies, the thermoelectric (TE) energy conversion has gained the considerable interest due to its reliability and ability to directly convert waste heat into electricity. In TE conversion technology, physical properties such as thermopower (α), electrical (σ) and thermal conductivity (κ) are exploited simultaneously to convert waste heat into electricity. The efficiency of such conversion depends upon various factors such as temperature, figure of merit (ZT= α2σ/ κ) etc. An inherent coupling among α, σ and κ limits ZT and thereby constrains one in achieving high efficiency. Many efforts have been carried out in decoupling TE …


Thermal, Electrical, And Structural Behavior Of Silver Chalcogenide Composites, Jeremy Capps Jan 2011

Thermal, Electrical, And Structural Behavior Of Silver Chalcogenide Composites, Jeremy Capps

All Theses

In this thesis and the contained publications, it is demonstrated that it is not only possible to improve the dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) of silver chalcogenide composites, but it is also possible to move the maximum ZT value into a more favorable temperature range for power production. It is shown that by introducing disorder, stress, and phase competition into a system, a reduction in the material's thermal conductivity can be realized. The binaries Ag2Te and Ag2Se are re-examined in detail before moving on to examine Ag2Te1-xSex composites. The maximum ZT (ZT = 0.92) of Ag2Te0.5Se0.5 is measured at T= …


Improved Thermoelectric Performance Of P-Type Polycrystalline Bi2te3 Via Hydrothermal Treatment With Alkali Metal Salts, Zhe Su Aug 2009

Improved Thermoelectric Performance Of P-Type Polycrystalline Bi2te3 Via Hydrothermal Treatment With Alkali Metal Salts, Zhe Su

All Dissertations

The field of thermoelectric research has attracted a lot of interest in hope of helping address the energy crisis. In recent years, low-dimensional thermoelectric materials have been found promising and thus become a popular school of thought. However, the high complexity and cost for fabricating low-dimensional materials give rise to the attempt to further improve conventional bulk polycrystalline materials. Polycrystals are featured by numerous grain boundaries that can scatter heat-carrying phonons to significantly reduce the thermal conductivity κ whereas at the same time can unfortunately deteriorate the electrical resistivity ρ. Aiming at the dualism of the grain boundaries in determining …


Effect Of Cosb3 Nanoparticles On The Thermoelectric Properties Of Filled And Unfilled Cosb3 Skutterudites, Paola Alboni Aug 2009

Effect Of Cosb3 Nanoparticles On The Thermoelectric Properties Of Filled And Unfilled Cosb3 Skutterudites, Paola Alboni

All Dissertations

This study explores the possibility of somewhat decoupling the electrical and thermal conduction, thereby being able to limit the thermal conduction while minimizing the effect on the electrical conduction. The approach is using a nanoparticle layer with a slight compositional mismatch as compared to the bulk skutterudite. A hydrothermal nanoparticle-plating technique has been employed to grow a layer of CoSb3 nanoparticles on the surface of skutterudite bulk matrix grains. Skutterudites of various forms were fabricated and studied in order to assess the effect of this nano-plated layer as a viable method in the improvement of thermoelectric properties of CoSb …