TWI628816B - Apparatus and method for enhancing figure of merit in composite thermoelectric materials with aerogel - Google Patents

Abstract

A device and method for enhancing a composite thermoelectric material with an optimum value coefficient by aerogel, specifically, adding aerogel to two commonly used p-type and n-type thermoelectric materials, thereby enhancing the thermoelectric figure of merit.

Description

Apparatus and method for enhancing composite value thermoelectric material by aerogel

The present invention generally relates to apparatus and methods for enhancing thermoelectric materials of a figure of merit (hereinafter referred to as zT) by aerogel. In particular, the present invention provides exemplary apparatus and methods for adding aerogels to two commonly used p-type and n-type thermoelectric materials to enhance the thermoelectric figure of merit to a higher level.

This paragraph is intended to introduce various aspects of the reader's technology, which may relate to various aspects of the present invention and/or claims. This discussion is believed to help provide readers with background information for a better understanding. Therefore, it should be understood that the description is read in this light, and not as an admission of the prior art.

Energy is usually wasted in the form of heat. Thermoelectric technology is expected to convert waste heat into usable energy. However, widely used thermoelectric devices are limited due to the low conversion efficiency of currently used thermoelectric materials. The conversion efficiency of thermoelectric materials is generally measured in units of the figure of merit zT. That is, the ability of a known material to efficiently generate thermoelectric power is calculated using the following quality factors:

zT = S ² σT /κ

Where S = Seebeck coefficient, σ = conductivity, κ = thermal conductivity, and T = absolute temperature.

In addition, high-efficiency thermoelectric power plants are required to combine materials of electrons (n-type) and hole-hole (p-type) carriers each having a high zT .

Aerogel is a synthetic porous ultra-light material derived from a gel in which the liquid component has been replaced by a gas. For example, cerium oxide aerogel is an aerogel made of tannin. Due to the ambiguous appearance, the cerium oxide aerogel is called "frozen smoke". In general, if a light source passes, the cerium oxide aerogel will appear yellowish and appear light blue in the sun.

The principle of the case is to add an aerogel, such as: anthraquinone aerogel, carbon aerogel, sulfur aerogel, metal oxide aerogel or the combination of the foregoing to increase two commonly used p-type and n-type The zT of the thermoelectric material is at a higher level. For example, if the case is at 425 K, the n-type Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 can reach zT = 1.12. For example, at 300K to 350 K, p-type Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ can reach zT = 1.9. . The inventors have also determined that the increase in zT of the sample added to the aerogel is primarily due to a decrease in lattice thermal conductivity and an increase in the power factor of the p-type material. The aerogel also acts as a preferred carrier scattering center, dominated by scattering n-type carriers rather than p-type carriers.

Accordingly, in an exemplary embodiment, a method of increasing the figure of merit of the thermoelectric material composite zT methods have been proposed to produce a composite material having a thermoelectric figure of merit zT lift, the method comprising mixing and airgel composite thermoelectric material.

According to another embodiment of the present principles, a reinforced composite thermoelectric material having a superior value coefficient zT higher than that of a conventional composite thermoelectric material is provided, wherein the reinforced composite thermoelectric material is obtained by mixing an aerogel with a composite thermoelectric material.

Thermoelectric processes are those that directly convert electrical energy and thermal energy by means of an electron or hole energy carrier. The process is promising for waste heat recovery in thermal management of microelectronics and biological systems, and its potential for solid state cooling and refrigeration (see references 1-4 below). These basic energy exchanges can exist in all materials, but with different efficiencies, quantified by the figure of merit zT = σS ² /κ. The value of zT > 2 is satisfactory in terms of efficient thermoelectric conversion efficiency under typical use conditions. However, in most materials, in most combinations of σ (conductivity), S (Sibbeck coefficient) and κ (thermal conductivity), the zT value in the hole-carrying subsystem is only close to 2, and in the electronic system. The zT value is approximately 1.

The existing zT values are the result of a significant development in the reduction of lattice thermal conductivity from the new nanocomposite texturing and grain boundary engineering growth techniques (see references 5-7). In particular, it has recently been found that the grain boundary engineering is additionally used to reduce the thermal conductivity in Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ to obtain a result at 320 K, zT = 1.86 (see Reference 8). Topological surface features of this material group are also well known (see references 9-11). Studies have also shown that additional nanocomposite structuring may also improve thermoelectric performance (see references 12-14).

However, in order to obtain a fully operational thermoelectric generator, an n-type material and a p-type material are required to be combined, and the closer the two types of materials are matched, the better. One of the best n-type materials for matching p-type BiSbTe is copper-doped BiTeSe, which currently has zT = 1 at 373 K (see Reference 15). For better power generation equipment, further enhancement of the zT of this system will be important. Although the reduction in thermal conductivity has been quite successful, many current studies warn that conductivity will be reduced at the same time, which is not beneficial for high zT . Careful material engineering is required to achieve independent optimization of σ and κ.

The inventors hereby propose an aerogel-added composite comprising a hybrid composite thermoelectric material and an aerogel selected from the group consisting of anthraquinone aerogels, carbon aerogels, sulfur-based aerogels and metals. A group of oxide aerogels. For example, Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ and Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 have higher levels of enhanced zT values, from 300 to 350 K, p-type Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ , zT = 1.9; In the range, n-type Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 , zT > 1.1, at 425 K, has the highest zT = 1.12. The main increase in zT is due to the reduced thermal conductivity of the aerogel mixed sample. An important finding is that the overall resistivity of the p-type system incorporating the aerogel is reduced, while the resistivity of the n-type material incorporating the aerogel is enhanced. This means that the aerogel is effective in localizing the electron carriers of the two materials (see reference 16). In the optimally adjusted p-type, the power factor with the aerogel sample was significantly enhanced, while there was no significant change in the power factor in the n-type. Therefore, mixing aerogels in thermoelectric materials is one of the desirable ways to reduce thermal conductivity and enhance zT without a significant reduction in conductivity.

Therefore, the exemplary sample preparation program and the structural parameters of the sample are presented in accordance with the principles of the present invention. Figure 1 shows an exemplary process of the present preparation process. In the preparation process, high-quality thermoelectric materials and aerogels are prepared and ground to the appropriate particle size. After weighing the corresponding weight ratio, put it into the mixer for mixing. After the mixing is completed, the mixed powder is taken out and then hot pressed to become a composite thermoelectric material. An exemplary p-type material, Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ , has hexagonal lattice symmetry, a space group of R3m, and a group code of 166. The details of the n-type and p-type materials used in the examples are listed in Table 1, and the x-ray diffraction (XRD) of the aerogel added is shown in Fig. 2, for example, adding 25% 碲A peak of cerium (100) will be produced in the starting powder, which can be clearly observed in the red curve of 2θ of about 23°, and the side peak is 27.7°. This impurity peak is no longer present in the sample, which has been further treated with spark plasma sintering, and then aerogels are added, showing a green and blue curve, respectively.

The space group of Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 is also R3m, but has rhombohedral crystal symmetry, as shown by the black curves of the X-ray diffraction spectrum of Table 1 and Figure 3, and the samples with aerogel are respectively red and Blue display.

Table 1  <TABLE border="1" borderColor="#000000" width="85%"><TBODY><tr><td> name</td><td> crystal symmetry</td><td> space group< /td><td> Space Group^#</td><td> a </td><td> b </td><td> c </td><td> α </ Td><td> β </td><td> γ </td></tr><tr><td> Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃</td><td> Hexagonal</td><td> R3m </td><td> 166 </td><td> 4.3 Å </td><td> 4.3 Å </td ><td> 30.28 Å </td><td> 90^°</td><td> 90^°</td><td> 120^°</td></tr><tr><td> Cu_0.01-Bi₂Te_2.7Se_0.3</td><td> Hexagonal</td><td> R3m </td><td> 166 </td><td> 4.3052 Å </td><td> 4.3052 Å </td ><td> 30.583 Å </td><td> 90^°</td><td> 90^°</td><td> 120^°</td></tr></TBODY></TABLE>

In Fig. 4(a), the zT of the p-type Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ thermoelectric material is shown . From 300 K to 400 K, the black line indicates that the starting material has a zT slightly greater than one. At temperatures above 400 °C, the zT of all samples began to decrease. According to the technique of Reference 8, we add 25% additional hydrazine to the starting material Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ , while in the initial operation in the range of 300 K to 400 K, zT is significantly increased; at 330 K (green dotted curve) When the zT has a peak value of 1.5. An aerogel (AG) was added to this compound (red curve) using our technique, and between 300 K and 350 K, zT was significantly increased to 1.9. At 400 K, zT also began to decrease, but was still higher than the sample without aerogel, which had a zT of 1.5 at 330 K. Compared to the existing literature, our sample Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ shows excellent performance.

FIG. 4 (b), black squares show zT n-type Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 sample. Although our raw materials have not yet reached the record value of zT = 1 at 373 K in the reference, the addition of aerogel can raise zT to a level close to the historical record. At 350 K to 450 K, zT was found to be approximately 1.1 with a peak at 425 K and zT = 1.12.

Referring to Figure 4(c), the optical image of the aerogel shows that it is a lightweight translucent material. In Figure 4(d), aerogels are provided by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image. The surface topography is visible in its granular form. To better understand the role of aerogels when mixed with p-type and n-type thermoelectric materials, we can compare the transmission parameters of zT in detail, σ = 1 /ρ, S and κ. We have found that aerogels offer two uses: 1) preferential carrier type scattering centers; 2) lower sample thermal conductivity. Combine these two effects to increase the zT of the material.

Figure 5 (a) and Figure 5 (b) are the resistivity of p-type and n-type thermoelectric materials, respectively, in Figure 5 (a), the additional 25% 碲 increase the resistivity (reduced conductivity), the results and references Document 8 is consistent. However, when an aerogel was added to Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ + 25% Te, the resistivity showed a substantial decrease (enhanced conductivity), and the maximum drop at high temperatures exceeded 2 powers. In Fig. 5(b), the resistivity tendency of Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 is shown. Although the change is not as significant as in the p-type material, there is a tendency for the resistivity of the sample containing the aerogel to be larger (lower conductivity). We note that the power factor of p-type Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ has been reported to be related to the direction of crystallization (Ref. 17). Additional electrons may come from the introduction of additional open spaces during the synthesis process (finer grains) (Reference 18). In the aerogel samples, we did not observe significant effects in the vacancies, even if present, aerogel scattering still dominated the resistance behavior, comparing the trend of resistivity in n-type and p-type aerogel samples, showing the addition of gas condensation The glue will preferentially scatter the n-type carrier.

Except for the preferential electron carrier type scattering, the aerogel does not affect the change of the Schiebeck coefficient in the p-type or n-type material, as shown in Fig. 6(a)(d), so the calculation of the power factor can be observed to be effective. The improvement is shown in Figure 6(c)(e). The aerogel acts as a carrier scattering center, so it has a significant effect in reducing the thermal conductivity of the thermoelectric material, and the total thermal conductivity is reduced by as much as 20% to 25%, as shown in Fig. 6(b)(d). Reducing thermal conductivity is the primary factor contributing to the increase in zT .

Figure 7 shows an atomic force microscopy (AFM) image of the surface of various thermoelectric material samples with aerogels, and Figures 7(a) and 7(c) show p-type + AG (helium gel), while 7(b) and 7(d) show atomic force microscope images of n-type + AG (helium gel). There are streak-like grains in the sample, with aerogel exhibiting finer overall characteristics relative to typical thermoelectric samples.

Therefore, this case demonstrates how adding an aerogel can enhance the higher levels of the two most commonly used n-type and p-type thermoelectric materials to zT . In n-type Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 , we found zT > 1, from 350 K to 450 K in the temperature range of 100 K, and zT = 1.12 at 425 K, while P-type Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ From a temperature range of 300 K to 350 K, it was found to have a higher zT = 1.9. These results show that composite thermoelectric materials with aerogels have great potential for higher efficiency performance. The enhanced zT with aerogel samples is primarily a result of a decrease in lattice thermal conductivity and a result of the p-type material enhancing power factor. We have found that aerogels also serve as a preferred carrier type scattering center for materials. In Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ and Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 , mainly n-type carriers are scattered, rather than p-type carriers. We believe that these processes can also be applied to other materials, which suggests that mixing aerogels in thermoelectric materials provides a novel and unprecedented way to simultaneously optimize the thermal conductivity and power factor of the material.

Preparation of nanomaterials: In order to prepare samples of polycrystalline nanomaterials, an appropriate amount of elemental bismuth (99.99%, purchased from Alfa Aesar, 200 mesh), enamel (99.99%, 200 mesh), enamel (99.99) %, 200 mesh), selenium (99.99%, 200 mesh) and copper (99.99%, purchased from Alfa Aesar, 200 mesh) with accurate stoichiometric ratios of Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ and Cu _0.01 - Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _{0.3 was} mixed and placed in a quartz tube (10 mm in diameter, 1 mm wall thickness) and then sealed under vacuum (10 ^-6 torr). The quartz tube was then placed in a vertical high temperature furnace and heated to 973 K over a period of 10 hours and then held for 120 hours. The furnace was then slowly cooled to 573 K over 8 hours and then quenched to room temperature in air. The Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ and Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 polycrystalline ingot thus obtained were ground into a micron-sized powder and then densified by spark plasma sintering (SPS-515S) to maintain 50 in a vacuum. The uniaxial pressure of MPa was raised to 673 K for 5 minutes (Ref. 5-6).

Material Characteristics and Analysis: We used a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), an X-ray diffraction instrument (PANalytical X'Pert Powder) and an energy scatter spectrometer (EDS) to study ball milling over Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ and Cu _0.01. Microstructure, crystalline phase and composition of the -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 powder. We also use the Rietveld structure refinement to calculate the lattice constant of the sample. We used a standard four-point probe technique to measure the conductivity and the Sibeck coefficient of a rod sample (2 mm x 2 mm x 8 mm) using a ZEM-3 (ULVAC) system. The thermal conductivity is calculated by the relationship Κ = DC _p d , where D is the thermal diffusivity; C _p is the specific heat; d is the density. The thermal diffusivity measurement was carried out by a laser flash method (LFA457, Netzsch) to pass the laser flash through a disc of 10 mm diameter and a thickness of about 2 mm. The specific heat C _p from 300 K to 500 K was measured using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC-Q100, TA). The sample density was determined by the Archimedes method. Hall measurement of 10 K to 400 K in a physical property measurement system (PPMS, Quantum Design) and a Vanderberg method (Van der Pauw technique) under a reversible magnetic field of 9 T ) Obtain a Hall coefficient. The combined error for all measurements of zT was determined to be about 10-15%.

This description is intended to illustrate the principles of the present invention. It will be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements, which are not specifically described or illustrated herein, but various embodiments of the present principles are included within the scope of the invention .

All of the examples and conditional language recited herein are intended to be used for the purpose of teaching, and to help the reader understand the present invention and the concept of the prior art as contributed by the inventor, and can be construed as being not limited to the specific examples and conditions.

Moreover, all statements of principles, aspects, and embodiments of the present invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to include equivalents of the structure and function. Furthermore, it is intended that such equivalents include the presently known equivalents, and equivalents that are developed in the future to perform the same function, such as any functionally identical element regardless of the structure.

In the specification, reference to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", "an example", "a typical embodiment" or other variations thereof refers to a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described. The system is associated with an embodiment included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the "in the embodiment", "in an embodiment", "in an embodiment", or any other variation, may not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

It should be understood that any of the following "/", "and/or" and "at least one of", for example, "A / B", "A and / or B" and "at least one of A and B", It is intended to include only the first listed option (A), or only the second listed option (B), or two options (A and B). As a further example, in the case of "A, B, and/or C" and "at least one of A, B, and C," the phrase is intended to include only the first listed option (A) or only The second listed option (B) or only the third listed option (C), or only the first and second listed options (A and B), or only the first and third The listed options (A and C), or only the second and third listed options (B and C), or all three options (A and B and C). Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that they can scale to many projects.

Although a few embodiments have been described and illustrated herein, it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various other means and/or structures are used to perform these functions and/or obtain the results and/or one or more The advantages described herein, and each such change and/or modification are considered to be within the scope of the embodiments. More generally, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are merely examples, and actual parameters, dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend on the particular application and/or The application taught herein. Many equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein will be understood or appreciated by those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are intended for purposes of example only, and the scope of the The way to implement it. This embodiment is directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, and/or method described herein. In addition, the scope of the present embodiments may include any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, and/or methods if the features, systems, articles, materials, and/or methods are not inconsistent.

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no.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a manufacturing method according to an example of the present invention. Fig. 2 is an X-ray diffraction spectrum of a Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ thermoelectric material in an example of the present invention. 3 is an X-ray diffraction spectrum of a Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 thermoelectric material in an example of the present invention. 『Fig. 4(a)』, there is a zT of aerogel and aerogel-free Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ thermoelectric material at different temperatures. "FIG. 4 (b)", has zT _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 thermoelectric material aerogels without aerogels Cu at different temperatures. 『Fig. 4(c)』, an optical image of a hernia gel. "Fig. 4(d)", a scanning electron microscope image of a hernia gel. Figure 5(a) shows the resistivity of aerogel and aerogel-free Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ thermoelectric materials at different temperatures. Figure 5(b) shows the resistivity of aerogel and aerogel-free Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 thermoelectric materials at different temperatures. 『Fig. 6(a)』, the Schiebeck coefficient of aerogel and aerogel-free Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ thermoelectric material at different temperatures. Figure 6(b) shows the thermal conductivity of aerogel and aerogel-free Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ thermoelectric materials at different temperatures. Figure 6(c) shows the power factor of aerogel and aerogel-free Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ thermoelectric materials at different temperatures. 『Fig. 6(d)』, the Schiebeck coefficient of aerogel and aerogel-free Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 thermoelectric material at different temperatures. "Fig. 6(e)" shows the thermal conductivity of aerogel and aerogel-free Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 thermoelectric materials at different temperatures. Figure 6(f) shows the power factor of aerogel and aerogel-free Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 thermoelectric materials at different temperatures. "Figure 7 (a)", atomic force microscope image of p type + AG (helium gel). "Fig. 7 (b)", atomic force microscope image of n type + AG (helium gel). "Figure 7 (c)", atomic force microscope image of p type + AG (helium gel). "Fig. 7 (d)", atomic force microscope image of n type + AG (helium gel).

Claims (8)

A method of fabricating a composite thermoelectric material having a high quality coefficient zT for producing a reinforced composite thermoelectric material having an increased zT , the method comprising mixing a composite thermoelectric material and an aerogel, and the composite thermoelectric material is n-type. The method of claim 1, wherein the aerogel is selected from the group consisting of an anthraquinone aerogel, a carbon aerogel, a sulfur aerogel, and a metal oxide aerogel. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite thermoelectric material is Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 . The method of claim 1, wherein the mixing further comprises ball milling the aerogel and the composite thermoelectric material. A reinforced composite thermoelectric material having a higher quality factor zT than a composite thermoelectric material, wherein the reinforced composite thermoelectric material is produced by mixing a composite thermoelectric material and an aerogel, and the composite thermoelectric material is n-type. The reinforced composite thermoelectric material according to claim 5, wherein the aerogel is selected from the group consisting of anthraquinone aerogel, carbon aerogel, sulfur aerogel and metal oxide aerogel. group. The reinforced composite thermoelectric material according to claim 5, wherein the nanocomposite thermoelectric material is Cu _0.01 -Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 . The reinforced composite thermoelectric material of claim 5, wherein the mixing further comprises grinding the aerogel and the composite thermoelectric material by ball milling.