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A record thermoelectric efficiency in tellurium-free modules for low-grade waste heat recovery

Author

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  • Zhonglin Bu

    (School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji Univ.)

  • Xinyue Zhang

    (School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji Univ.)

  • Yixin Hu

    (School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji Univ.)

  • Zhiwei Chen

    (School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji Univ.)

  • Siqi Lin

    (School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji Univ.)

  • Wen Li

    (School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji Univ.)

  • Chong Xiao

    (University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Yanzhong Pei

    (School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji Univ.)

Abstract

Low-grade heat accounts for >50% of the total dissipated heat sources in industries. An efficient recovery of low-grade heat into useful electricity not only reduces the consumption of fossil-fuels but also releases the subsequential environmental-crisis. Thermoelectricity offers an ideal solution, yet low-temperature efficient materials have continuously been limited to Bi2Te3-alloys since the discovery in 1950s. Scarcity of tellurium and the strong property anisotropy cause high-cost in both raw-materials and synthesis/processing. Here we demonstrate cheap polycrystalline antimonides for even more efficient thermoelectric waste-heat recovery within 600 K than conventional tellurides. This is enabled by a design of Ni/Fe/Mg3SbBi and Ni/Sb/CdSb contacts for both a prevention of chemical diffusion and a low interfacial resistivity, realizing a record and stable module efficiency at a temperature difference of 270 K. In addition, the raw-material cost to the output power ratio in this work is reduced to be only 1/15 of that of conventional Bi2Te3-modules.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhonglin Bu & Xinyue Zhang & Yixin Hu & Zhiwei Chen & Siqi Lin & Wen Li & Chong Xiao & Yanzhong Pei, 2022. "A record thermoelectric efficiency in tellurium-free modules for low-grade waste heat recovery," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27916-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27916-y
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    Cited by:

    1. Jiang, L. & Ji, Y. & Shi, W.K. & Fang, M.X. & Wang, T. & Zhang, X.J., 2023. "Adsorption heat/mass conversion cycle for carbon capture:Concept, thermodynamics and perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).
    2. Xu, Haowei & Zhang, Qiang & Yi, Longbing & Huang, Shaolin & Yang, Hao & Li, Yanan & Guo, Zhe & Hu, Haoyang & Sun, Peng & Tan, Xiaojian & Liu, Guo-qiang & Song, Kun & Jiang, Jun, 2022. "High performance of Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric generator owing to pressure in fabrication process," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    3. Yang, Wei & Bao, Jingjing & Liu, Hongtao & Zhang, Jun & Guo, Lin, 2023. "Low-grade heat to hydrogen: Current technologies, challenges and prospective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    4. Hangtian Zhu & Wenjie Li & Amin Nozariasbmarz & Na Liu & Yu Zhang & Shashank Priya & Bed Poudel, 2023. "Half-Heusler alloys as emerging high power density thermoelectric cooling materials," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Jian Li & Qingfeng Song & Ruiheng Liu & Hongliang Dong & Qihao Zhang & Xun Shi & Shengqiang Bai & Lidong Chen, 2022. "Thermoelectric Performance Optimization of n-Type La 3− x Sm x Te 4 /Ni Composites via Sm Doping," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-9, March.
    6. Seung Choi, Han & Hur, Sunghoon & Kumar, Ajeet & Song, Hyunseok & Min Baik, Jeong & Song, Hyun-Cheol & Ryu, Jungho, 2023. "Continuous pyroelectric energy generation with cyclic magnetic phase transition for low-grade thermal energy harvesting," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 344(C).
    7. Tian, Tong & Wang, Xinyue & Liu, Yang & Yang, Xuan & Sun, Bo & Li, Ji, 2023. "Nano-engineering enabled heat pipe battery: A powerful heat transfer infrastructure with capability of power generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).

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