Download file (599 KB)
Download as zip (579 KB)

Collection

Citation

Description:

To improve the performance of thermoelectric materials, a highly effective and widely implemented approach is to create multi-phase composites. These composites are designed to impede phononic heat transport, which accounts for the majority of thermal conductivity in conventional thermoelectric semiconductors. In 1999, Bergman and Fel reported that also the electronic properties, specifically the power factor can be significantly enhanced in two-phase composites consisting of a highly-conducting, simple metal and a high-performance thermoelectric arranged in an optimal manner, sparking great experimental interest. In this work, we challenge the theoretical results of Bergman and Fel and the conclusions drawn therein by utilizing a simple serial model. We show that, while the improvement of the power factor is indeed extraordinary, the results lead to a misleading interpretation of the overall thermoelectric performance of the material. As a result, we argue that the power factor is not a suitable metric for evaluating multi-phase materials and composites and that the figure of merit must be used instead. Nonetheless, we demonstrate that the best thermoelectric composite consists of a highly conductive metal and a high-performance thermoelectric.

Rights:

• In Copyright
  

  © 2024 American Physical Society

Keyword: thermoelectric

Date published: 2024-01-02

Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)

Journal:

• Physical Review Applied (ISSN: 23317019) vol. 21 issue. 1 014002

Funding:

• Japan Science and Technology Agency JPMJMI19A1

Manuscript type: Author's version (Submitted manuscript)

MDR DOI: https://doi.org/10.48505/nims.4815

First published URL: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.21.014002

Related item:

Other identifier(s):

Contact agent:

Updated at: 2024-10-08 12:31:05 +0900

Published on MDR: 2024-10-08 12:31:05 +0900