Screening strategy for developing thermoelectric interface materials
Science, vol. 382, pp. 921–928
Abstract
Thermoelectric interface materials (TEiMs) are essential to the development of thermoelectric generators. Common TEiMs use pure metals or binary alloys but have performance stability issues. Conventional selection of TEiMs generally relies on trial-and-error experimentation. We developed a TEiM screening strategy that is based on phase diagram predictions by density functional theory calculations. By combining the phase diagram with electrical resistivity and melting points of potential reaction products, we discovered that the semimetal MgCuSb is a reliable TEiM for high-performance MgAgSb. The MgCuSb/MgAgSb junction exhibits low interfacial contact resistivity (ρ c <1 microhm square centimeter) even after annealing at 553 kelvin for 16 days. The fabricated two-pair MgAgSb/Mg 3.2 Bi 1.5 Sb 0.5 module demonstrated a high conversion efficiency of 9.25% under a 300 kelvin temperature gradient. We performed an international round-robin testing of module performance to confirm the measurement reliability. The strategy can be applied to other thermoelectric materials, filling a vital gap in the development of thermoelectric modules.
Authors 19
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Liangjun Xie corresponding
Harbin Institute of Technology · State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining
Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
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Li Yin corresponding
Harbin Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Institute of Materials Genome and Big Data, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, Sommerfeldstraße 14, 52074 Aachen, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
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Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research
Affiliation as printed
Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, 01069 Dresden, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
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Harbin Institute of Technology · State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining
Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
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Harbin Institute of Technology · State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining
Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
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Harbin Institute of Technology · State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining · Xi'an Jiaotong University
Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
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Harbin Institute of Technology · State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining
Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
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Harbin Institute of Technology · State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining
Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
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Harbin Institute of Technology · State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining
Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
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Harbin Institute of Technology · State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining · Xi'an Jiaotong University
Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
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Harbin Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Institute of Materials Genome and Big Data, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
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Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research
Affiliation as printed
Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, 01069 Dresden, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
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Zihang Liu corresponding
Harbin Institute of Technology · State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining
Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
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Jiehe Sui corresponding
Harbin Institute of Technology · State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining
Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
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