Achieving high performance in thermoelectric coolers: Going beyond the limitations of ZT
Author
Bharti Agrawala, Tarachand Tarachanda, Airan Lia, Ikhwan Darmawana, Takao Moria,b
Affiliation
aThermal Energy Materials Group, MANA, NIMS
bGraduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan
URL
Biography
Bharti Agrawal received her Ph.D. in thermoelectric materials from IIT Bombay, India, where she investigated electronic band structure engineering and developed measurement and refinement techniques for semiconductor charge transport. Her research focuses on band structure analysis, carrier transport optimization, and data-driven approaches to enhancing thermoelectric performance. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Thermal Energy Materials Group at the Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), NIMS, Tsukuba, Japan, working on high-performance thermoelectric cooling and power-generation devices.
Abstract
Thermoelectric Coolers (TEC) are semiconductor and solid-state devices, with no moving parts [2] and working fluids, making them more sustainable and environmentally friendly for refrigeration applications. The competence of TECs is quantified by their coefficient of performance , Where is cooling power and is energy consumed. COP of such coolers is defined by the Ioffe equation which depend on the material parameter[1].
Both quantities and are governed by intrinsic material properties and extrinsic device parameters. Here, we systematically investigate the dependence of COP on these interdependent parameters using a multiparameter data search algorithm. A large 4-Dimensional search has been done to obtain best performance parameter considering co-dependent interaction. The MATLAB-based optimization program takes experimental data as input. P-type Mg1−xInxAg0.97Sb0.99 (x=0.0,0 0.01) system has been studied via this method thoroughly. Investigations of intrinsic material properties namely the density-of-states mass (), carrier mobility () and fermi level on COP reveal a strong dependency. The obtained results have been used to construct a set of guidelines for TEC materials selection for high-performance cooling devices which stresses on individual material properties rather that value as a sole search criterion. Given the challenges associated with lowering values in TE devices, the present study is expected to be universally applicable and beneficial for enhancing the cooling performance in most studied TE materials.
References
- H. J. Goldsmid, Thermoelectric Refrigeration, Springer, 249 (2013).
- W. Y. Chen, X. L. Shi, J. Zou, Z. G. Chen, Small Methods 6, 2101235 (2022), DOI: 10.1002/smtd.202101235.
