Maximizing the performance of n-type Mg3Bi2 based materials for room-temperature power generation and thermoelectric cooling

Abstract Although the thermoelectric effect was discovered around 200 years ago, the main application in practice is thermoelectric cooling using the traditional Bi 2 Te 3 . The related studies of new and efficient room-temperature thermoelectric materials and modules have, however, not come to fruition yet. In this work, the electronic properties of n-type Mg 3.2 Bi 1.5 Sb 0.5 material are maximized via delicate microstructural design with the aim of eliminating the thermal grain boundary resistance, eventually leading to a high zT above 1 over a broad temperature range from 323 K to 423 K. Importantly, we further demonstrated a great breakthrough in the non-Bi 2 Te 3 thermoelectric module, coupled with the…

• JS
  Japan Science and Technology Agency

  Award: JPMJMI19A1
• CR
  Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology

  Awards: JPMJMI19A1, JPMJCR20Q4
• JP
  JST-Mirai Program

  Awards: Grant Number JPMJMI19A1, JPMJMI19A1