Towards tellurium-free thermoelectric modules for power generation from low-grade heat

• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21391-1
• Publication Date: 2021-02-20T09:14:59Z
• Authors: Pingjun Ying; Ran He; Jun Mao; Qihao Zhang; Heiko Reith; Jiehe Sui; Zhifeng Ren; Kornelius Nielsch; Gabi Schierning
• Keywords: Thermoelectric generator; Tellurium; Thermoelectric cooling

Abstract Thermoelectric technology converts heat into electricity directly and is a promising source of clean electricity. Commercial thermoelectric modules have relied on Bi 2 Te 3 -based compounds because their unparalleled properties at temperatures associated with low-grade (<550 K). However, the scarcity elemental greatly limits applicability such modules. Here we report performance assembled from -substitute compounds, including p-type MgAgSb n-type Mg (Sb,Bi) , by using simple, versatile, thus scalable processing routine. For temperature difference ~250 K, whereas single-stage module displayed conversion efficiency ~6.5%, segmented legs record ~7.0% that comparable to state-of-the-art Our work demonstrates feasibility scalability high-performance based sustainable elements for recovering heat.