A Heusler based Transverse Thermoelectric Generator Processed by Co Sintering
(2023) European Conference on Thermoelectrics 2023 (ECT2023) — Location: Prague (18.September.2023)
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- Abstract
- Nowadays, the Heusler compound Fe_2 VAl is well known as a promising thermoelectric material for near room temperature applications. Indeed, it presents some advantages such as the abundance of its constitutive elements, its low cost, and its good thermal stability. This material is therefore well-suited for large-scale applications. However, the process steps required to manufacture efficient integrated thermoelectric generators are numerous and it is economically intersting to reduce their number. In this context, metallization of Fe2VAl obtained by co-sintering could ease the assembly process and bring opportunities to enlarge the scope of assembly geometries including ready-to-use transverse thermoelectric generators. In this study, Cu and Fe_2 VAl were co-sintered together by hot-pressing. The characterization of the interface between the materials revealed that Al tends to diffuse in Cu, creating a depletion in Fe_2 VAl. This interface was electrically characterized with a home-made device and was found to have a contact resistivity significantly lower compared to the resistivity of Fe_2 VAl. A simple transverse thermoelectric generator was built. This type of module artificially generates an electric field perpendicular to the heat flux by tilting a stack of layers of one thermoelectric material and a good conductor. This module was fully characterized using a custom-build setup. Its performances were consistent with estimations made with finite element calculations of an ideal case. It demonstrates the effectiveness of co-sintering as an assembly technique for TEGs. This study also enabled to show the trade-off behaviour between power factor and figure of merit in transverse TEG. Indeed, the power factor of the module was ~50% higher than the one of the bulk thermoelectric materials while the ZT was ~35% lower.
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Citations
Delcroix, M., Roy, G., Marchal-Marchant, V., van der Rest, C., & Jacques, P. (2023). A Heusler based Transverse Thermoelectric Generator Processed by Co Sintering. European Conference on Thermoelectrics 2023 (ECT2023), Prague. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/233246