IDEA #4CSZMJ Research And Development Of High Efficiency Thermoelectric Materials For Energy And Information Convertors

SCIENTIFIC INNOVATIVE PROJECTS FROM MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE AND NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF UKRAINE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH EFFICIENCY THERMOELECTRIC% MATERIALS FOR ENERGY AND INFORMATION CONVERTORS Description Thermoelectric materials are developed for energy and information convertors, especially for new types of ther(cid:28) moelements: gyrotropic, anisotropic and zone(cid:28)heteroge(cid:28) neous. These materials are:InSb of n(cid:28)type for gyrotropic thermoelements,CdSb and Bi with optimal ratio of elec(cid:28) tron/hole concentrations for achieving a maximum of Seebeck coefficient anisotropy,solid solutions based on bismuth telluride for function(cid:28)graded materials and zone(cid:28) heterogeneous thermoelements, materials for sensors with the promoted stability of Lorentz number in the wide tem(cid:28) perature range based on cadmium antimonide, doped by compensating donors and acceptors.The methods of gener(cid:28) ator thermoelectric materials design using Comsol Multiphysics software are created. The theory of optimal quality control and technology of the program doping of function(cid:28)graded materials based on Bi2Te3 are developed, providing the spatial distribution of thermoelectric prop(cid:28) erties in materials. Using such technologies, the set of thermoelectric modules is created of electric power level 5–10 W for the electric energy generators. With the use of such modules devices are developed:flameless thermal and electric energy sources with catalysts based on oxides of cobalt and chrome with electric power level of hundred Watts, which are an alternative to the centralized energy supply, generators of the mass use for domestic apparatus power supply, for mobile communication means; electric energy sources which use the thermal losses from engines and industrial thermal waste. Fig. 3. Catalytic thermoelectric generator withheat radiator Fig. 1. Ingots of thermoelectric materials Fig. 2. Thermoelectric generator modules Innovative Aspect and Main Advantages Basic innovations are: – new criteria of quality of thermo(cid:28)electric materials are the generalized criteria of Ioffe and Zener for gyrotropic and anisotropic materials, and also for thermoelectric sen(cid:28) sor materials,information(cid:28)energy theory of thermoelectric sensors and measuring devices, relating the efficiency of heat into electricity conversion to the amount of measur(cid:28) ing information, reliability theory of multi element ther(cid:28) moelectric devices with the active and passive redundancy of thermoelements, – use of competitive scattering mechanisms of charge car(cid:28) riers on phonons and impurity ions for the temperature stabilizing of thermoelectric materials, – new types of spiral and permeable thermoelements based on gyrotropic, anisotropic and function graded materials. Advantages Informativity of thermoelectric sensors and measuring devices on their basis is improved by factor of 20–40. High 82 sensitivity microcalorimeter with such sensors has param(cid:28) eters which ten times exceed the known analogues. The created function graded materials provide the increase of thermoelectric energy conversion efficiency of 1.2–1.5 times. Catalytic thermal and electric energy sources pro(cid:28) vide an economy of a gas fuel up to 50%. Reliability of the thermoelectric generator modules is tenfold improved. Areas of Application Electrical power sources, measuring technique, thermo(cid:28) electric cooling, Peltier heat pumps. Stage of Development Tested, available for demonstration – field tested. Contact Details Name of organization: Institute of Thermoelectricity Contact person: Oleh Luste Address:9A vul. Dubinska, Chernivtsi, 58029, Ukraine Telephone: (03722)45036Fax: (03722)41917 Email: luste@inst.cv.ua Website: http://ite.cv.ukrtel.net SCIENCE AND INNOVATION. Special Issue, 2007