AVS 59th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Advanced Surface Engineering Monday Sessions
       Session SE+NS-MoA

Invited Paper SE+NS-MoA8
Cost Efficiency Trade Off in Nanostructured Thermoelectric Energy Conversion Systems

Monday, October 29, 2012, 4:20 pm, Room 22

Session: Nanostructured Thin Films and Coatings II: Multifunctional Properties
Presenter: A. Shakouri, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University
Authors: A. Shakouri, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University
K. Yazawa, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University
Correspondent: Click to Email
Energy consumption in our society is increasing rapidly. A significant fraction of the energy is lost in the form of heat. In this talk we introduce thermoelectric devices that allow direct conversion of heat into electricity. Some new physical concepts and nanostructures make it possible to modify the trade-offs between the bulk electrothermal material properties through the changes in the density of states, scattering rates and interface effects on the electron and phonon transport. We will review recent experimental and theoretical results on nanostructured materials as well as solid-state thermionic power generation devices. Theory and experiment are compared for several III-V and nitride nanocomposites and multilayers. Potential to increase the energy conversion efficiency and bring the cost down to $0.1-0.2/W will be discussed.