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Chin. Phys. B, 2018, Vol. 27(7): 077304    DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/27/7/077304
CONDENSED MATTER: ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE, ELECTRICAL, MAGNETIC, AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES Prev   Next  

Improving compatibility between thermoelectric components through current refraction

K Song(宋坤), H P Song(宋豪鹏), C F Gao(高存法)
State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures, Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
Abstract  It is well known that components with dissimilar compatibility factors cannot be combined by segmentation into an efficient thermoelectric generator, since each component needs a unique optimal current density. Based on the complex variable method, the thermal-electric field within a bi-layered thermoelectric composite has been analyzed, and the field distributions have been obtained in closed-form. Our analysis shows that current refraction occurs at the interface, both the refraction angle and current density vary with the incidence angle. Further analysis proves that the current densities in two components can be adjusted independently by adjusting the incidence current density and incidence angle, thus the optimal current density can be matched in both components, and the conversion efficiency can be significantly increased. These results point to a new route for high efficiency thermoelectric composites.
Keywords:  thermoelectric material      current refraction      compatibility factor      conversion efficiency  
Received:  10 January 2018      Revised:  11 April 2018      Accepted manuscript online: 
PACS:  73.50.Lw (Thermoelectric effects)  
  84.60.Rb (Thermoelectric, electrogasdynamic and other direct energy conversion)  
  84.60.Bk (Performance characteristics of energy conversion systems; figure of merit)  
  46.25.Cc (Theoretical studies)  
Fund: Project supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant No. NS2016008).
Corresponding Authors:  H P Song     E-mail:  hpsong@nuaa.edu.cn

Cite this article: 

K Song(宋坤), H P Song(宋豪鹏), C F Gao(高存法) Improving compatibility between thermoelectric components through current refraction 2018 Chin. Phys. B 27 077304

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