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Performance analysis with SiC nanoparticle enhanced Bi-Te-Se-Sb alloy-based thermoelectric materials for variable leg geometry

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Abstract

This research focuses on the thermoelectric (TE) material by incorporating SiC nanoparticles to investigate nanocomposite-based materials’ characteristics and the TE system’s overall performance. In this paper, a comprehensive analysis has been studied on the TE materials and SiC nanoparticles’ morphology to present the shape, size, and distribution by considering scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) technologies. The result indicates that adding SiC nanoparticles with TE materials considerably improved the system’s performance by decreasing the thermal conductivity (30.7%) and increasing the Seebeck coefficient (7.5%). Furthermore, a numerical investigation has been conducted on the performance analysis of the rectangular and trapezoidal-shaped TE legs. It is reported that the rectangular-shaped TE unit generates more power output around 3 µW and 2 µW compared to the constant and non-constant volume TE leg geometry, respectively, at a load current of 0.04 mA under a temperature difference of 100 °C. The rectangular-shaped TE unit outperforms the trapezoidal-shaped TE unit. However, the rectangular-shaped TE leg requires comparatively high TE materials (34.5%), increasing the investment by 33.9%.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area (m2)

b :

Width of the leg (m)

DP:

Dispenser printing

h :

Height or thickness of the leg (m)

h c :

Thickness of the copper strip (m)

l :

Height or thickness of the leg (m)

R :

Electrical resistivity (Ω m)

SEM:

Scanning Electron Microscope

T :

Temperature (°C)

TEG:

Thermoelectric generator

w :

Length of the leg (m)

w g :

Gap between two legs (m)

XRD:

X-ray Powder Diffraction

ZT :

Figure of merit

α :

Seebeck coefficient (V K−1)

λ :

Thermal conductivity (W/(m K)

ψ :

Length deviation (mm)

b:

Bottom side

c:

Copper strip

C:

Cold side

g:

Gap

H:

Hot side

n, p:

Type of material/leg

t:

Top side

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Molecular and Cellular Imaging Facility (MCIF) for their support to perform the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) test and Chemistry Department for X-ray Diffraction facility Advanced Analysis Center, at the University of Guelph.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada

    Abu Raihan Mohammad Siddique, Bill Van Heyst & Shohel Mahmud

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Leilane Roberta Macario

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  1. Abu Raihan Mohammad Siddique
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  2. Leilane Roberta Macario
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Correspondence to Shohel Mahmud.

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Siddique, A.R.M., Macario, L.R., Van Heyst, B. et al. Performance analysis with SiC nanoparticle enhanced Bi-Te-Se-Sb alloy-based thermoelectric materials for variable leg geometry. Appl. Phys. A 128, 334 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-022-05451-x

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