| Project/Area Number |
23K13270
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 19020:Thermal engineering-related
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| Research Institution | Toyota Technological Institute |
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Principal Investigator |
ANG ArtoniKevinRoquero 豊田工業大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), ポストドクトラル研究員 (50975050)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2023-04-01 – 2025-03-31
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| Project Status |
Granted (Fiscal Year 2023)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
Fiscal Year 2024: ¥520,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
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| Keywords | TEG devices / Thermoelectric materials / Thermoelectrics |
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| Outline of Research at the Start |
In this research, monolithic thermoelectric generators (TEG) will be developed using state-of-the-art thermoelectric chalcogenide materials. Using high performance Ag- and Cu- chalcogenides, novel monolithic TEGs will be developed for energy harvesting applications.
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
A mulitlayer monolithic thermoelectric generator (TEG) was developed using high performance n-type Ag2S0.55Se0.45 and p-type Cu2.075Se. Both have high powerfactors and low thermal conductivities at room temperature, ideal for TEG applications.
Using these TE materials, a dense and robust multilayer monolithic TEG was assembled using a low temperature co-sintering process. This resulted in a power output of 0.3 μW/cm2K2. By further minimizing electrical contact resistance, the power output was increased to 0.7 μW/cm2K2, and by optimizing the device structure, it was further increased to 1.5 μW/cm2K2.
This work shows an alternative approach to powering small IoT devices using inexpensive and non-toxic TE materials and a simple and low temperature device fabrication method.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
Some of the initial goals of this project have already been met. The TE properties of the Ag- and Cu- chalcogenide materials have been improved, with zT~0.5 at room temperature.
Using these materials, the assembly method and device parameters of the multilayer monolithic thermoelectric generators (TEG) were optimized, resulting in a signifcant increase in the normalized power density output of the 3 pair prototype devices, from 0.3 μW/cm2K2 to ~1.5 μW/cm2K2. This was achieved without using the expensive and toxic Bi2Te3-based materials.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
After enhancing the thermoelectric (TE) properties fo the chalcogenide materials used, optimizing the device device structural parameters and minimizing the electrical contact resistance, the best power output densitiy achieved in a single pair proptotype device in this work is ~1.5 μW/cm2K2. This is much lower than the record holding KELK Bi2Te3-based TEG (~18 μW/cm2K2). Furthermore, with only a single pair of n- and p-type layers, the voltage generated is also small, ~10 mV at a delta T of 30K.
To increase both these values, I am working on developing multilayer stacked devices with > 10 pairs of TE layers using thin sheets of the TE materials. Furthermore, work is ongoing in further enhancing the TE properties of the p-type Cu2Se material.
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