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

Zhonglin Bu, Xinyue Zhang, Yixin Hu, Zhiwei Chen, Siqi Lin, Wen Li, Chong Xiao and Yanzhong Pei ()
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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.

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27916-y

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