2053 results about "Thermoelectric materials" patented technology

A thermocouple disposed on a substrate comprises a first leg of thermoelectric material, a second leg of thermoelectric material, and a thermocouple junction electrically connecting the first leg and the second leg, wherein a height of the thermocouple junction is substantially a height of the first or second legs.

An improved efficiency thermoelectric system and method of making such a thermoelectric system are disclosed. Significant thermal isolation between thermoelectric elements in at least one direction across a thermoelectric system provides increased efficiency over conventional thermoelectric arrays. Significant thermal isolation is also provided for at least one heat exchanger coupled to the thermoelectric elements. In one embodiment, the properties, such as resistance or current flow, of the thermoelectric elements may also be varied in at least one direction across a thermoelectric array. In addition, the mechanical configuration of the thermoelectric elements may be varied, in one embodiment, according to dynamic adjustment criteria.

This invention relates to processes for the assembly of three-dimensional structures having periodicities on the scale of optical wavelengths, and at both smaller and larger dimensions, as well as compositions and applications therefore. Invention embodiments involve the self assembly of three-dimensionally periodic arrays of spherical particles, the processing of these arrays so that both infiltration and extraction processes can occur, one or more infiltration steps for these periodic arrays, and, in some instances, extraction steps. The product articles are three-dimensionally periodic on a scale where conventional processing methods cannot be used. Articles and materials made by these processes are useful as thermoelectrics and thermionics, electrochromic display elements, low dielectric constant electronic substrate materials, electron emitters (particularly for displays), piezoelectric sensors and actuators, electrostrictive actuators, piezochromic rubbers, gas storage materials, chromatographic separation materials, catalyst support materials, photonic bandgap materials for optical circuitry, and opalescent colorants for the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared regions.

A thermoelectric material comprises two or more components, at least one of which is a thermoelectric material. The first component is nanostructured, for example as an electrically conducting nanostructured network, and can include nanowires, nanoparticles, or other nanostructures of the first component. The second component may comprise an electrical insulator, such as an inorganic oxide, other electrical insulator, other low thermal conductivity material, voids, air-filled gaps, and the like. Additional components may be included, for example to improve mechanical properties. Quantum size effects within the nanostructured first component can advantageously modify the thermoelectric properties of the first component. In other examples, the second component may be a thermoelectric material, and additional components may be included.

An improved efficiency thermoelectric system is disclosed wherein convection is actively facilitated through a thermoelectric array. Thermoelectrics are commonly used for cooling and heating applications. Thermal power is convected through a thermoelectric array toward at least one side of the thermoelectric array, which leads to increased efficiency. Several different configurations are disclosed to provide convective thermal power transport, using a convective medium. In addition, a control system is disclosed which responds to one or more inputs to make adjustments to the thermoelectric system.

A number of compact, high-efficiency and high-power density thermoelectric systems utilizing the advantages of thermal isolation are described. Such configurations exhibit high system efficiency and power density. Some configurations exhibit a substantial reduction in the amount of thermoelectric material required.

An improved efficiency thermoelectric system and method of making such a thermoelectric system are disclosed. Significant thermal isolation between thermoelectric elements in at least one direction across a thermoelectric system provides increased efficiency over conventional thermoelectric arrays. Significant thermal isolation is also provided for at least one heat exchanger coupled to the thermoelectric elements. In one embodiment, the properties, such as resistance or current flow, of the thermoelectric elements may also be varied in at least one direction across a thermoelectric array. In addition, the mechanical configuration of the thermoelectric elements may be varied, in one embodiment, according to dynamic adjustment criteria.

A thermoelectric module comprising an N-type thermoelectric element having excellent characteristics in atmospheric air even when the temperature rises to a medium-to-high temperature region of about 500° C. and, further, improving the conversion efficiency of a thermoelectric module, by the combination of an excellent P-type thermoelectric material and an excellent n-type thermoelectric material containing a compound having a skutterudite structure, the module comprising an N-type thermoelectric elements each containing a compound having a skutterudite structure, P-type thermoelectric elements each connected directly or by way of a metal member to the N-type thermoelectric elements and containing an Mn-Si series compound,

A thermoelectric material includes a composite having a first electrically conducting component and second low thermal conductivity component. The first component may include a semiconductor and the second component may include an inorganic oxide. The thermoelectric composite includes a network of the first component having nanoparticles of the second component dispersed in the network.

A thermoelectric cooling and heating device including a substrate, a plurality of thermoelectric elements arranged on one side of the substrate and configured to perform at least one of selective heating and cooling such that each thermoelectric element includes a thermoelectric material, a Peltier contact contacting the thermoelectric material and forming under electrical current flow at least one of a heated junction and a cooled junction, and electrodes configured to provide current through the thermoelectric material and the Peltier contact. As such, the thermoelectric cooling and heating device selectively biases the thermoelectric elements to provide on one side of the thermolectric device a grid of localized heated or cooled junctions.

A thermoelectric conversion material and a thermoelectric conversion device having a novel structure of an increased figure of merit are provided by forming nano-wires of thermoelectric material in a smaller cross-sectional size. The thermoelectric conversion material comprises nano-wires obtained by introducing a thermoelectric material (semiconductor material) into columnar pores of a porous body. The porous body is formed by providing a structure in which columns of a column-forming material containing a first component (for example, aluminum) are distributed in a matrix containing a second component (for example, silicon or germanium or a mixture of them) being eutectic with the first component, and then removing the column-forming material from the structure. The average diameter of the nano-wires of the thermoelectric material is 0.5 nm or more and less than 15 nm, and the spacing of the nano-wires is 5 nm or more and less than 20 nm.

New thermoelectric materials and devices are disclosed for application to high efficiency thermoelectric power generation. New functional materials based on oxides, rare-earth-oxides, rare-earth-nitrides, rare-earth phosphides, copper-rare-earth oxides, silicon-rare-earth-oxides, germanium-rare-earth-oxides and bismuth rare-earth-oxides are disclosed. Addition of nitrogen and phosphorus are disclosed to optimize the oxide material properties for thermoelectric conversion efficiency. New devices based on bulk and multilayer thermoelectric materials are described. New devices based on bulk and multilayer thermoelectric materials using combinations of at least one of thermoelectric and pyroelectric and ferroelectric materials are described. Thermoelectric devices based on vertical pillar and planar architectures are disclosed. The advantage of the planar thermoelectric effect allows utility for large area applications and is scalable for large scale power generation plants.

This invention relates to processes for the assembly of three-dimensional structures having periodicities on the scale of optical wavelengths, and at both smaller and larger dimensions, as well as compositions and applications therefore. Invention embodiments involve the self assembly of three-dimensionally periodic arrays of spherical particles, the processing of these arrays so that both infiltration and extraction processes can occur, one or more infiltration steps for these periodic arrays, and, in some instances, extraction steps. The product articles are three-dimensionally periodic on a scale where conventional processing methods cannot be used. Articles and materials made by these processes are useful as thermoelectrics and thermionics, electrochromic display elements, low dielectric constant electronic substrate materials, electron emitters (particularly for displays), piezoelectric sensors and actuators, electrostrictive actuators, piezochromic rubbers, gas storage materials, chromatographic separation materials, catalyst support materials, photonic bandgap materials for optical circuitry, and opalescent colorants for the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared regions.

Phononic crystals that have the ability to modify and control the thermal black body phonon distribution and the phonon component of heat transport in a solid. In particular, the thermal conductivity and heat capacity can be modified by altering the phonon density of states in a phononic crystal. The present invention is directed to phononic crystal devices and materials such as radio frequency (RF) tags powered from ambient heat, dielectrics with extremely low thermal conductivity, thermoelectric materials with a higher ratio of electrical-to-thermal conductivity, materials with phononically engineered heat capacity, phononic crystal waveguides that enable accelerated cooling, and a variety of low temperature application devices.

A thermoelectric material comprises two or more components, at least one of which is a thermoelectric material. The first component is nanostructured, for example as an electrically conducting nanostructured network, and can include nanowires, nanoparticles, or other nanostructures of the first component. The second component may comprise an electrical insulator, such as an inorganic oxide, other electrical insulator, other low thermal conductivity material, voids, air-filled gaps, and the like. Additional components may be included, for example to improve mechanical properties. Quantum size effects within the nanostructured first component can advantageously modify the thermoelectric properties of the first component. In other examples, the second component may be a thermoelectric material, and additional components may be included.

An improved efficiency thermoelectric system is disclosed wherein convection is actively facilitated through a thermoelectric array. Thermoelectrics are commonly used for cooling and heating applications. Thermal power is convected through a thermoelectric array toward at least one side of the thermoelectric array, which leads to increased efficiency. Several different configurations are disclosed to provide convective thermal power transport, using a convective medium. In addition, a control system is disclosed which responds to one or more inputs to make adjustments to the thermoelectric system.

A thermoelectric cooling and heating device including a substrate, a plurality of thermoelectric elements arranged on one side of the substrate and configured to perform at least one of selective heating and cooling such that each thermoelectric element includes a thermoelectric material, a Peltier contact contacting the thermoelectric material and forming under electrical current flow at least one of a heated junction and a cooled junction, and electrodes configured to provide current through the thermoelectric material and the Peltier contact. As such, the thermoelectric cooling and heating device selectively biases the thermoelectric elements to provide on one side of the thermolectric device a grid of localized heated or cooled junctions.

A graphene-polymer layered composite and a method of manufacturing the same is provided. A graphene-polymer layered composite includes polymer layers surrounding a graphene sheet, and may include numerous polymer layers and graphene sheets in an alternating stacked configuration. The graphene-polymer layered composite has the characteristics of a polymer in that it provides flexibility, ease of manufacturing, low manufacturing costs, and low thermal conductivity. The graphene-polymer layered composite also has the characteristics of graphene in that it has a high electrical conductivity. Due to the low thermal conductivity and high electrical conductivity, the graphene-polymer layered composite may be useful for electrodes, electric devices, and thermoelectric materials.

An improved efficiency thermoelectric system and method of making such a thermoelectric system are disclosed. Significant thermal isolation between thermoelectric elements in at least one direction across a thermoelectric system provides increased efficiency over conventional thermoelectric arrays. Significant thermal isolation is also provided for at least one heat exchanger coupled to the thermoelectric elements. In one embodiment, the properties, such as resistance or current flow, of the thermoelectric elements may also be varied in at least one direction across a thermoelectric array. In addition, the mechanical configuration of the thermoelectric elements may be varied, in one embodiment, according to dynamic adjustment criteria.

The present invention provides a thermoelectric element comprising an electrically conductive substrate, a p-type thermoelectric material, and an n-type thermoelectric material; the p-type thermoelectric material being positioned on the substrate via an electrically conductive thermal buffer material, and the n-type thermoelectric material being positioned on the substrate via an electrically conductive thermal buffer material; wherein each thermoelectric material comprises a specific oxide and each electrically conductive thermal buffer material comprises an electrically conductive material having a thermal expansion coefficient between that of the thermoelectric material to which the thermal buffer material is bonded and that of the substrate. The invention also provides a thermoelectric module comprising a plurality of the thermoelectric elements. The thermoelectric element and the thermoelectric module have both a high thermoelectric conversion efficiency and excellent properties in terms of thermal stability, chemical durability, etc.

The invention relates to a method for preparing a Cu2Se thermoelectric material. The method for preparing the Cu2Se thermoelectric material by the low-temperature solid-phase reaction is characterized by comprising the following step: 1) weighing Cu powder and Se powder according to the molar ratio of 2:1 and mixing the Cu powder and the Se powder uniformly to obtain mixed powder, wherein the Cu powder and the Se powder serve as raw materials; 2) pressing the mixed powder into a block body by using tablet press, placing the block body into a graphite crucible, vacuumizing, sealing into a quartz glass tube, placing into a muffle furnace, performing solid-phase reaction at the temperature of between 650 and 750 DEG C for 12 to 24 hours, and grinding the obtained product into powder; and 3) performing spark plasma sintering on the powder obtained in the step 2) to obtain a compact block body, namely the Cu2Se thermoelectric material. By the method, the raw materials have low cost; the reaction temperature is low; energy is saved; and the materials are fed according to the stoichiometric ratio of the Cu2Se, so the product composition can be controlled precisely; and the repeatability is high.

The invention provides a device and a method for measuring thermoelectric parameters of a film. The measuring device, which has a symmetric structure, comprises a radiating fin, a thermoelectric module, a heat insulation material, metal round rods, a thermocouple wire, a voltmeter, a power supply, a data acquisition instrument and a computer. The measuring method provided by the invention comprises the following steps of: clamping a film to be measured between two upper and lower metal round rods which are completely same while the area of the film sample is the same as the cross-sectional area of the metal round rods, controlling the ambient temperature of the measuring device and the heat flow of the film sample by the use of the thermoelectric module, detecting and recording each performance parameter of the film thermoelectric material at real time by the use of the data acquisition instrument. The invention has the following advantages: the performance of the film thermoelectric material at different temperatures can be measured, that is to say, the same device can be utilized to simultaneously measure the thermal conductivity coefficient, Seebeck coefficient and conductance coefficient of the film thermoelectric material so as to calculate ZT values of the film thermoelectric material at different temperatures. According to the invention, the measuring device has a simple principle, is convenient to operate, is small in size, has many test functions and has high measuring precision.

Compounds are expressed by general formula of AxBC2-y where 0<=x<=2 and 0<=y<1, and have CdI2 analogous layer structures; A-site is occupied by at least one element selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Ir, Pt, Au, Sc, rare earth elements containing Y, B, Al, Ga, In, Tl, Sn, Pb and Bi; B-site is occupied by at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, W, Ir, and Sn; C-site is occupied by at least one element selected from the group consisting of S, Se and Te; the compounds exhibit large figure of merit so as to be preferable for thermoelectric generator / refrigerator.

The invention relates to the use of a thermoelectric material for thermoelectric purposes at a temperature of 150 K or less, said thermoelectric material is a material corresponding to the stoichiometric formula FeSb2, wherein all or part of the Fe atoms optionally being substituted by one or more elements selected from the group comprising: Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, La, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os, Tr, Pt, Au, Hg, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu and a vacancy; and wherein all or part of the Sb atoms optionally being substituted by one or more elements selected from the group comprising: P, As, Bi, S, Se, Te, B, Al, Ga, In, Tl, C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb and a vacancy; with the proviso that neither one of the elements Fe and Sb in the formula FeSb2 is fully substituted with a vacancy, characterised in that said thermoelectric material exhibits a power factor (S2σ) of 25 μW / cmK2 or more at a temperature of 150 K or less. The invention also relates to thermoelectric materials per se falling within the above definition.

T provide an N type thermoelectric material having figure of the merit improved to be comparable to or higher than that of P type thermoelectric material, the N type thermoelectric material of the present invention contains at least one kind of Bi and Sb and at least one kind of Te and Se as main components, and contains bromine (Br) and iodine (I) to have carrier in such a concentration that corresponds to the contents of bromine (Br) and iodine (I).

A novel energy harvesting system and method utilizing a thermoelectric having a material exhibiting a large thermally induced strain (TIS) due to a phase transformation and a material exhibiting a stress induced electric field is introduced. A material that exhibits such a phase transformation exhibits a large increase in the coefficient of thermal expansion over an incremental temperature range (typically several degrees Kelvin). When such a material is arranged in a geometric configuration, such as, for a example, a laminate with a material that exhibits a stress induced electric field (e.g. a piezoelectric material) the thermally induced strain is converted to an electric field.

A thermoelectric device comprises a pair of substrates each having a surface, P-type and N-type thermoelectric material chips interposed between the pair of substrates, electrodes disposed on the surface of each substrate and connecting adjacent P-type and N-type thermoelectric material chips to each other, and support elements disposed over the surface of each of the substrates for supporting and aligning the thermoelectric material chips on the respective electrodes and between the pair of substrates. Each of the thermoelectric material chips has a first distal end connected to one of the electrodes of one of the substrates and a second distal end connected to one of the electrodes of the other of the substrates. The adjacent P-type and N-type thermoelectric material chips connected by the electrodes are interposed between the pair of substrates such that a line connecting centers of the adjacent P-type and N-type thermoelectric material chips is coincident with a diagonal of each of the adjacent P-type and N-type thermoelectric material chips.

A device for generating power to run an electronic component. The device includes a heat-conducting substrate (composed, e.g., of diamond or another high thermal conductivity material) disposed in thermal contact with a high temperature region. During operation, heat flows from the high temperature region into the heat-conducting substrate, from which the heat flows into the electrical power generator. A thermoelectric material (e.g., a Bi2Te3-based film or other thermoelectric material) is placed in thermal contact with the heat-conducting substrate. A low temperature region is located on the side of the thermoelectric material opposite that of the high temperature region. The thermal gradient generates electrical power and drives an electrical component.