Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T07:00:42.550Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Improvement of Thermoelectric Properties through Reduction of Thermal Conductivity by Nanoparticle Addition and Stoichiometric Change to Mg2Si

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2017

William T. Yorgason ,
Arden N. Barnes  and
Nick Roberts
William T. Yorgason*
Affiliation:
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84341, U.S.A.
Arden N. Barnes
Affiliation:
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84341, U.S.A.
Nick Roberts
Affiliation:
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84341, U.S.A.
*
*(Email: w.t.yorgason@gmail.com)
Get access

Abstract

Thermoelectric materials have been of interest for several decades due to their ability to recapture waste heat of various systems and convert it to useful electricity. One method used to improve the thermoelectric efficiency of a material is to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity (k p ) while not affecting the other properties. In order to reduce the k p of the material, this paper introduces silicon (Si) nanoparticles (NPs) in Mg2Si to manipulate phonon scattering and mean free path. A series of simulations is performed with the metal silicide thermoelectric material MgxSix. The objective of this work is two-fold: 1) to determine the optimal Si nanoparticle (NP) concentration and 2) to determine the optimal MgxSix stoichiometry for minimizing the k p of the system. It should be noted, however, that the assumed reduction in thermal conductivity is only a result of reduced phonon transport and that minimal impact is made on the transport of electrons. Interestingly, the uniform off-stoichiometry (49.55 atomic percent (a/o) Si) sample of MgxSix resulted in a reduction of k p of 84.62 %, while the Si NP sample, with matching a/o Si, resulted in a reduction of k p of 78.82 %.

Keywords

thermoelectricthermal conductivitynanostructure
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Advances , Volume 2 , Issue 58-59: Nanomaterials , 2017 , pp. 3637 - 3643
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Kim, W., et al. , Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 045901 (2006).Google Scholar
Wang, X. W., et al. , Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 193121 (2008).Google Scholar
Boulet, P., et al. , Comp. Mater. Sci. 50 (3), 847–851 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LaBotz, R. J. and Mason, D. R., J. Electrochem. Soc. 110 (2), 121–126 (1963).Google Scholar
Chen, Z.-G., et al. , Prog. Nat. Sci. 22 (6), 535–549 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azaddin, A. H., et al. , In Micro and Nanoelectronics (RSM), 2015 IEEE Regional Symposium on, IEEE, pp. 1–4 (2015).Google Scholar
Kim, C., et al. , J. Alloys Compd. 690 (1), 51–56 (2017).Google Scholar
Plimpton, S., Comp, J.. Phys. 117 (1), 1–19 (1995). Available at: http://lammps.sandia.gov (accessed 10 April 2017).Google Scholar
Roberts, N. A., et al. , Int. J. Heat Mass Tran. 52 (7) 2002–2008 (2008).Google Scholar
Zhang, H., et al. , Comp. Mater. Sci. 104 (15), 172–176 (2015).Google Scholar
Chen, G., Phys. Rev. B 57, 14958 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar