Date of Award
1-2010
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Legacy Department
Materials Science and Engineering
Committee Chair/Advisor
DRYMIOTIS, FIVOS R
Committee Member
LUO , JIAN
Committee Member
SKAAR , ERIC C
Abstract
Sustainable energy research is currently on the forefront of scientific exploration thus a major effort is devoted to the development of new energy conservation and production techniques. Thermoelectric materials can play a significant part both in energy conservation and energy production via the Seebeck effect (heat to electric power) and the Peltier effect (electricity to cooling power), since they can convert wasted heat to useful electrical energy.
Presented herein are the measured electrical and thermal transport properties and phenomenal analysis of the PbTeAgxSe (x=1.9, 2.0, 2.01) system. First, it would lead to a significant reduction in the thermal conductivity and a significant improvement of the thermoelectric through adjusting amount of Ag, which is able to monitor the effects of phase competition between the cubic PbSe and the monoclinic α-Ag2Te. In order to further optimize thermoelectric performance, a small amount of copper is chosen to dope into this system. Finally, the maximum thermoelectric performance obtained in Pb:Te:Ag:Se:Cu mixtures is ZT~0.6, which improves approximately 30% in contrast to maxium ZT~0.45 of Pb:Te:Ag:Se mixtures.
Recommended Citation
Ma, Ben, "INVESTIGATION OF THE THERMOELECTRIC BEHAVIOR OF Cu-DOPED PbTeAgxSe" (2010). All Theses. 921.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/921