Article Demonstration of ultrahigh thermoelectric efficiency of ∼7.3% in Mg3Sb2/MgAgSb module for low-temperature energy harvesting

Zihang Liu ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Naoki Sato SAMURAI ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Weihong Gao ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Kunio Yubuta ; Naoyuki Kawamoto SAMURAI ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Masanori Mitome SAMURAI ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Keiji Kurashima (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Yuka Owada ; Kazuo Nagase ; Chul-Ho Lee ; Jangho Yi ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Koichi Tsuchiya SAMURAI ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Takao Mori SAMURAI ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science)

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Citation
Zihang Liu, Naoki Sato, Weihong Gao, Kunio Yubuta, Naoyuki Kawamoto, Masanori Mitome, Keiji Kurashima, Yuka Owada, Kazuo Nagase, Chul-Ho Lee, Jangho Yi, Koichi Tsuchiya, Takao Mori. Demonstration of ultrahigh thermoelectric efficiency of ∼7.3% in Mg3Sb2/MgAgSb module for low-temperature energy harvesting. Joule. 2021, 5 (5), 1196-1208.
SAMURAI

Description:

(abstract)

Thermoelectric harvesting of low-temperature waste heat offers great opportunity for sustainable energy production. However, the investigations of related thermoelectric materials and modules remain sluggish. Herein, we reported a great advance in the n-type Mg3Sb1.5Bi0.5 system by minor Cu addition, ranging from material design (high dimensionless figure of merit zT) to module development (high conversion efficiency). Some Cu atoms, preferentially occupying interstitial sites within the Mg3Sb2 lattice, significantly modified phonon modes via filling in the phonon gap and increased anharmonic phonon scattering, thereby leading to the anomalously low thermal conductivity. Simultaneously, the detrimental behavior of thermally-activated electrical conductivity was completely eliminated through the grain boundary complexion engineering as a result of the Mg-Cu binary eutectic reaction. These two critical roles contributed to the remarkable improvement of zT. Based on this newly developed high-performance material coupled with p-type -MgAgSb based material, a high-performance thermoelectric module, rivaling long-time champion Bi2Te3, was for the first time fabricated, demonstrating a record-high conversion efficiency ~ 7.3% at the hot-side temperature of 593 K. These results highlight the importance of both atomic arrangement and grain boundary complexions in optimization of thermoelectric properties and also pave the way for low-temperature thermoelectric harvesting.

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Keyword: thermoelectric

Date published: 2021-04-19

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Journal:

  • Joule (ISSN: 25424351) vol. 5 issue. 5 p. 1196-1208

Funding:

  • JSPS
  • JST JPMJMI19A1

Manuscript type: Publisher's version (Version of record)

MDR DOI:

First published URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.03.017

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Updated at: 2024-11-25 16:30:22 +0900

Published on MDR: 2024-11-25 16:30:23 +0900