Seeking new, highly effective thermoelectrics
Abstract
Thermoelectric technology can directly and reversibly convert heat to electrical energy. Although thermoelectric energy conversion will never be as efficient as a steam engine (1), improving thermoelectric performance can potentially make a technology commercially competitive. Thermoelectric conversion efficiency is estimated by the so-called dimensionless figure of merit, ZT = S2σT/κ, where S, σ, T, and κ denote the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, working temperature, and thermal conductivity, respectfully . These parameters are strongly coupled, and improving the final ZT is challenging as a result. Strategies for boosting thermoelectric performance include nanostructuring, band engineering, nanomagnetic compositing, high-throughput screening, and others (2). Many of these strategies create a high ZT in a narrow range of temperatures, limiting the overall energy conversion. Finding materials with wider operating temperature ranges may require rethinking development strategies.
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References and Notes
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Published In
Science
Volume 367 | Issue 6483
13 March 2020
13 March 2020
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Copyright © 2020, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License.
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Published in print: 13 March 2020
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFA0702100; 2018YFB0703600), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51772012; 51671015), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (JQ18004), Shenzhen Peacock Plan team (KQTD2016022619565991), National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (BX20190028), 111 Project (B17002), and Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (2019M660399). L.-D. Z. has support from the National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars (51925101).
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