KR20140120523A - Thermo-electric device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a thermoelectric device and, more specifically, to a thermoelectric device capable of improving energy conversion efficiency. The thermoelectric device of the present invention comprises a thermoelectric semiconductor including a first thermoelectric semiconductor and a second thermoelectric semiconductor; a plurality of electrode electrically connected in series with each other through the first thermoelectric semiconductor and the second thermoelectric semiconductor; and a substrate coupled to the electrode to expose the opposite surface of the surface connected to the thermoelectric semiconductor.

Description

Thermo-electric device

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermoelectric element, and more particularly, to a thermoelectric element capable of improving energy conversion efficiency.

Generally, a thermoelectric device uses a Peltier effect and a seebeck effect, and is a heat and electricity exchange system that can simultaneously perform cooling and heating.

Such a thermoelectric device can easily switch between cooling and heating through pole switching, and is a device that can obtain electric energy by using the temperature difference between both ends of the device using the Seebeck effect.

Therefore, these thermoelectric elements are easy to cool and generate, and they are rapidly becoming popular as next generation cooling and power plants because they have excellent cooling effect and power generation effect, and are very small in volume.

Particularly, it is used in the case where the stability of the system is required such as a cooling electronic device, the operation space is narrow, the noise is required to be prevented, and the temperature can be precisely controlled.

In addition, power generation has been used to generate electricity by converting thermal energy such as waste heat to electric energy.

Such a thermoelectric element is an environmentally friendly energy material capable of converting heat energy and electric energy into each other, and a p-type and n-type thermoelectric semiconductor (hereinafter referred to as thermoelectric semiconductor) And they are electrically connected in series.

The efficiency of such a thermoelectric device is related not only to the type and shape of the thermoelectric semiconductor but also to the temperature difference between the substrate, the electrode, and the top and bottom. There are many difficulties in improving the materials of thermoelectric semiconductors, and it is more difficult to secure reliability and mass productivity after development.

Therefore, efforts to secure the temperature difference between the substrate and the electrode and between the upper and lower ends can be more effective in improving the performance of the thermoelectric device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a thermoelectric device capable of improving energy conversion efficiency by improving a heat transfer structure.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a thermoelectric semiconductor comprising a first thermoelectric semiconductor and a second thermoelectric semiconductor; A plurality of electrodes electrically connected in series through the first thermoelectric semiconductors and the second thermoelectric semiconductors; And a substrate coupled to the electrode such that an opposite surface of the electrode is connected to the thermoelectric semiconductor.

Here, the electrode includes: a first electrode located on one side of the thermoelectric semiconductor; And a second electrode located on the other side of the thermoelectric semiconductor.

Further, the substrate may include an organic-inorganic hybrid material including an organic material and an inorganic material.

Here, the light emitting device may further include a blocking layer coupled to the thermoelectric semiconductor disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode.

At this time, the shielding film may include an organic hybrid material including an organic material and an inorganic material.

Here, it may further comprise a thermally conductive adhesive layer located on the exposed second side of the electrode.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device comprising: a plurality of thermoelectric semiconductors including a first thermoelectric semiconductor and a second thermoelectric semiconductor arranged in pairs in a pair with the first thermoelectric semiconductor; A plurality of first electrodes electrically connecting the thermoelectric semiconductors on one side of the thermoelectric semiconductor; A plurality of second electrodes electrically connecting the thermoelectric semiconductors on the other side of the thermoelectric semiconductors and connected in series with the first electrodes through the thermoelectric semiconductors; A first substrate positioned between the plurality of first electrodes; And a second substrate positioned between the plurality of second electrodes.

Here, at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate may include an organic hybrid material including an organic material and an inorganic material.

At least one of the first substrate and the second substrate may be coupled to the first electrode and the second electrode to expose the first electrode and the second electrode, respectively.

On the other hand, the first electrode and the second electrode may further include a thermally conductive adhesive layer positioned on the exposed surface.

Here, the light emitting device may further include a blocking layer coupled to the thermoelectric semiconductor disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode.

At this time, the shielding film may include an organic hybrid material including an organic material and an inorganic material.

The present invention has the following effects.

Since the thermoelectric element of the present invention can directly flow heat toward the heat radiator side or the heat source side through the electrode, the thermal conductivity can be greatly improved and the performance of the thermoelectric element can be greatly improved.

As described above, since the heat conductor or the heat source and the electrode are coupled by the thermally conductive adhesive layer having no electrical conductivity, there is no problem in insulation.

In addition, the barrier film coupled to the thermoelectric semiconductor located between the first electrode and the second electrode can prevent the heat radiation action or the convection action, thereby securing a temperature difference, thereby further improving the performance of the thermoelectric device.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a thermoelectric element.
2 is a perspective view showing an example of a thermoelectric element.
3 is a plan view showing an example of a thermoelectric element.
4 is a schematic view for explaining the operation of the thermoelectric element.
5 is a schematic view showing an application example using a thermoelectric element.
6 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the thermoelectric element.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Rather, the intention is not to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but rather, the invention includes all modifications, equivalents and substitutions that are consistent with the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

It will be appreciated that when an element such as a layer, region or substrate is referred to as being present on another element "on," it may be directly on the other element or there may be an intermediate element in between .

Although the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and / or regions, such elements, components, regions, layers and / And should not be limited by these terms.

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a thermoelectric element, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a thermoelectric element.

1 and 2, the thermoelectric element may include thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20, an electrode 30 for electrically connecting the thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20, and a substrate 40 .

The thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20 may include a first thermoelectric semiconductor 10 of a first conductivity and a second thermoelectric semiconductor 20 of a second conductivity.

The first thermoelectric semiconductor 10 may be an n-type semiconductor, and the second thermoelectric semiconductor 20 may be a p-type semiconductor. Or vice versa. Hereinafter, the case where the first thermoelectric semiconductor 10 is an n-type thermoelectric semiconductor and the second thermoelectric semiconductor 20 is a p-type thermoelectric semiconductor will be described as an example.

The thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20 may be made of bismuth telluride (Bi ₂ Te ₃ ) material. At this time, it may be doped with antimony (Sb) to form a p-type semiconductor and doped with selenium (Se) to form an n-type semiconductor. However, the doping material is not limited thereto.

The first thermoelectric semiconductor 10 and the second thermoelectric semiconductor 20 are paired and a plurality of the first thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and the second thermoelectric semiconductors 20 may be arranged in parallel with each other.

The electrode 30 includes a first electrode 31 electrically coupled to one side of the thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20 and a second electrode 32 electrically coupled to the other side of the thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20 can do.

The electrode 30 may include a metal material having high electrical conductivity such as copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), or silver (Ag).

The first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 may be connected to each other through the thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20 in series.

1, the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 are made of a plurality of pieces of metal, and the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 of each piece are made of a metal And may be connected to each other through the thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20 continuously.

2, a conductive line 50 may be connected to both end portions of the continuous series structure including the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32. In addition,

At this time, the substrate 40 may be coupled to the electrode 30. The substrate 40 may include a first substrate 41 coupled with the first electrodes 31 and a second substrate 42 coupled with the second electrodes 32.

At least one of the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 may be exposed to the outside.

For example, the first substrate 41 may fix a plurality of first electrodes 31 and may be disposed on the outer surface of the first electrode 31, that is, opposite to the surface bonded to the thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20 So that the surface can be coupled to the outside.

The second substrate 42 may fix the plurality of second electrodes 32 and may be formed on the outer surface of the second electrode 32, that is, the surface opposite to the surface coupled to the thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20 And may be coupled so as to be exposed to the outside.

The substrate 40 may be made of resin such as a polymer.

More specifically, the substrate 40 may comprise an organic hybrid material (hybrid) comprising an organic material and an inorganic material.

The first substrate 41 or the second substrate 42 made of such a material includes a first electrode 31 or a second electrode 32, While maintaining the same.

3 is a plan view showing an example of a thermoelectric element, and shows a state of the first substrate 41 having a coupling hole 41a at a position where the first electrode 31 is located.

The substrate 40 including the first substrate 41 and the second substrate 42 may be integrally combined with the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32, respectively.

For example, the first electrodes 31 may be coupled to each other using a material capable of forming the uncured first substrate 41 so that the first electrode 31 may be exposed to the outside, , And curing the first substrate 41.

That is, after forming a layer of the organic / inorganic hybrid material capable of fabricating the first substrate 41, the first electrodes 31 are placed in the layer of the material, and then the material is cured by a curing means such as heat or ultraviolet rays And then curing it.

In other methods, after the first substrate 41 is formed flat, a coupling hole 41a is formed at a position coincident with the first electrode 31 so as to have a shape similar to that shown in FIG. 3, The first substrate 41 may be manufactured by coupling the coupling hole 41a with the first electrode 31. [

This example can be equally applied to the second substrate 42 as well.

4 is a schematic view for explaining the operation of the thermoelectric element, and the operation of the thermoelectric element thus constituted is as follows.

As described above, the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 10 and the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 20 have a serial connection structure in which they are continuously connected by the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32, respectively.

The first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 are coupled to each other by a first substrate 41 and a second substrate 42. The first substrate 41 and the second substrate 42 are connected to each other, At least one of the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 may be exposed to the outside.

The n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 10 includes an n-type semiconductor material 11 having an electron as a main carrier and can be bonded to the electrodes 31 and 32 by the bonding material 12.

In addition, the diffusion preventing layer 13 may be positioned between the bonding material 12 and the n-type semiconductor material 11. The diffusion preventing layer 13 can prevent the material of the bonding material 12 from diffusing into the n-type semiconductor material 11.

The p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 20 may include a p-type semiconductor material 21 having a hole as a main carrier and may be provided between the electrodes 31 and 32 as well as the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 10, 22, and a diffusion barrier layer 23 may be located between the bonding material 22 and the p-type semiconductor material 21. [

In this structure, when electric energy is applied to the thermoelectric elements, the charges (electrons, holes) inside the thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20 absorb heat energy at one end of the thermoelectric element and move to the opposite surface, The other end is cooled and the other side is heated.

On the heating surface, the temperature difference can be maintained by releasing the absorbed heat by applying appropriate heat dissipating means. Currently, most of the heat dissipation devices are fan, heat pipe and so on.

Thus, the heat source can be cooled or heated using the thermoelectric element.

On the other hand, when a thermoelectric element is brought into contact with a heat source at a high temperature, a flow of electric charges (electrons and holes) is generated due to such a high temperature, and the flow of electric charges can be utilized for power generation.

Fig. 5 shows an application example using a thermoelectric element.

As shown in the figure, a heat dissipator 70 is coupled to the first electrode 31 of the thermoelectric element, and a heat source 80 is coupled to the second electrode 32.

At this time, a thermally conductive adhesive layer 60 may be provided between the first electrode 31 and the heat discharger 70, and between the second electrode 32 and the heat source 80.

The thermally conductive adhesive layer 60 does not have electrical conductivity so that short circuit problems do not occur with the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 even when the heat sink 70 or the heat source 80 is made of metal.

A plurality of radiating fins 71 are formed in the radiating body 70 so that the radiating fins 71 can be brought into contact with air to perform heat exchange and a radiating fan have.

Since the electrode 30 is directly coupled to the heating element 70 or the heat source 80 by the thermally conductive adhesive layer 60, the thermal conductivity can be greatly improved and the efficiency of the thermoelectric element can be greatly increased.

A typical thermoelectric element uses a ceramic substrate such as alumina. However, when such a substrate is used, since heat loss is large in the heat receiving portion (heat source side) and the heat radiating portion (heat radiator side) due to low thermal conductivity The performance of the thermoelectric element is adversely affected.

However, since the thermoelectric element described above can directly flow heat toward the heat sink 70 side or the heat source 80 side through the electrode 30, the thermal conductivity can be greatly improved, and the performance of the thermoelectric element can be greatly improved .

As described above, since the heat radiating member 70 or the heat source 80 and the electrode 30 are coupled by the heat conductive adhesive layer 60 having no electrical conductivity, there is no problem in insulation.

In some cases, the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 may be thinly coated with an organic or inorganic hybrid material in order to improve the insulating property.

6, the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 may further include a blocking layer 90 coupled to the thermoelectric semiconductors 10 and 20 located between the first and second electrodes 31 and 32.

Such a shielding film 90 can prevent the radiation action or the convection action of heat, thereby securing a temperature difference, thereby further improving the performance of the thermoelectric device.

As described above, one of the factors that significantly affect the performance of the thermoelectric element is that the temperature difference between the upper and lower ends is maintained.

However, in a situation where the first substrate 41 and the second substrate 42 face each other, heat transfer of radiation and convection occurs in the thermoelectric element, and the temperature difference between the upper and lower ends becomes smaller.

This phenomenon causes the performance of the thermoelectric device to deteriorate. Therefore, when the barrier layer 90 is formed by using the aforementioned organic or inorganic hybrid material or other polymer in order to reduce the heat transfer inside the device, the radiation and convection heat transfer are blocked, and the temperature difference is secured to improve the performance.

Further, as a further expected effect of the shielding film 90, an effect of preventing the strength of the device from being weakened can be expected by attaching the separated electrode 30 using a hybrid material.

It should be noted that the embodiments of the present invention disclosed in the present specification and drawings are only illustrative of specific examples for the purpose of understanding and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention are possible in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

10: first thermoelectric semiconductor 20: second thermoelectric semiconductor
30: Electrode 31: First electrode
32: second electrode 40: substrate
41: first substrate 42: second substrate
50: lead 60: thermally conductive adhesive layer
70: Heat sink 80: Heat source
90:

Claims (12)

A thermoelectric semiconductor including a first thermoelectric semiconductor and a second thermoelectric semiconductor;
A plurality of electrodes electrically connected in series through the first thermoelectric semiconductors and the second thermoelectric semiconductors; And
And a substrate coupled to the electrode such that an opposite surface of the electrode is connected to the thermoelectric semiconductor. The plasma display apparatus according to claim 1,
A first electrode located on one side of the thermoelectric semiconductor; And
And a second electrode located on the other side of the thermoelectric semiconductor. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2,
An organic-inorganic hybrid material including an organic material and an inorganic material. The thermoelectric device according to claim 2, further comprising a blocking layer coupled to the thermoelectric semiconductor located between the first electrode and the second electrode. The method according to claim 4,
An organic-inorganic hybrid material including an organic material and an inorganic material. The thermoelectric device according to claim 1, further comprising a thermally conductive adhesive layer positioned on the exposed surface of the electrode. A plurality of thermoelectric semiconductors including a first thermoelectric semiconductor and a second thermoelectric semiconductor arranged in pairs in parallel with the first thermoelectric semiconductor;
A plurality of first electrodes electrically connecting the thermoelectric semiconductors on one side of the thermoelectric semiconductor;
A plurality of second electrodes electrically connecting the thermoelectric semiconductors on the other side of the thermoelectric semiconductors and connected in series with the first electrodes through the thermoelectric semiconductors;
A first substrate positioned between the plurality of first electrodes; And
And a second substrate positioned between the plurality of second electrodes. [8] The method of claim 7, wherein at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate comprises:
An organic-inorganic hybrid material including an organic material and an inorganic material. The thermoelectric device according to claim 7, wherein at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate is coupled to the first electrode and the second electrode to expose the first electrode and the second electrode, respectively. The thermoelectric device according to claim 9, further comprising a thermally conductive adhesive layer positioned on the exposed surface of the first electrode and the second electrode. The thermoelectric device according to claim 7, further comprising a blocking film coupled to the thermoelectric semiconductor positioned between the first electrode and the second electrode. The method according to claim 11,
An organic-inorganic hybrid material including an organic material and an inorganic material.

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