Thermoelectric Transport in Nanocomposites

Document Number: 2006-01-0289

Date Published: April 2006

Author(s):
Ronggui Yang - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Gang Chen - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Abstract:
Energy transport in nanostructures differs significantly from macrostructures because of classical and quantum size effects on energy carriers. Nanostructure-based materials such as superlattices have shown significant increases in thermoelectric figure-of-merit ZT compared to their bulk counterparts due mainly to the reduced phonon thermal conductivity of these structures. Materials with a high ZT can be used to develop efficient solid-state devices that convert waste heat into electricity. Superlattices grown by thin-film deposition techniques, however, are not suitable for large scale applications. Nanocomposites represent one approach that can lead to high ZT through both thermal conductivity reduction and possibly low energy electron filtering. This paper presents theoretical studies on thermoelectric properties in semiconducting nanocomposites, aiming at developing high efficiency thermoelectric energy conversion materials.

File Size: 619K
Product Status: In Stock

See other papers presented at SAE 2006 World Congress & Exhibition, April 2006, Detroit, MI, USA, Session: Nanotechnology for Automotive Applications (Part 2 of 2)

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