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Thermoelectric modules can be used in waste heat harvesting, sensing, and cooling applications. Here, we report on the fabrication and performance of a four-leg module based on abundant silicide materials. While previously optimized Mg2Si0.3Sn0.675Bi0.025 is used as the n-type leg, we employ a fractional factorial design based on the Taguchi methods mapping out a four-dimensional parameter space among Mnx-εMoεSi1.75−δGeδ higher manganese silicide compositions for the p-type material. The module is assembled using a scalable fabrication process, using a Cu metallization layer and a Pb-based soldering paste. The maximum power output density of 53 μW cm–2 is achieved at a hot-side temperature of 250 °C and a temperature difference of 100 °C. This low thermoelectric output is related to the high contact resistance between the thermoelectric materials and the metallic contacts, underlining the importance of improved metallization schemes for thermoelectric module assembly.

The oxidation kinetics and mechanisms of higher manganese silicides (HMS) MnSi1.75, MnSi (1.75-x)Gex, MnSi(1.75-x)Alx (with x = 0.005 and 0.01)were studied and the effects of densification methods and dopant concentration discussed. Oxidation experiments were conducted using thermogravimetry (TGA), while post characterization with X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) showed that spark plasma sintering (SPS) is a better densification method than hot pressing (HP). Except for undoped HMS, HMS doped with 0.5at% Ge had the lowest oxidation rate. Stable formation of a SiO2 protective layer was the main reason for improved oxidation resistance in air in the temperature range 200 °C-500 °C.

Here, we present the performance of a thermoelectric (TE) module consisting of n-type (La0.12Sr0.88)0.95TiO3 and p-type Ca3Co4-xO9+δ materials. The main challenge in this investigation was operation of TE module in different atmosphere conditions, since n-type has its optimum TE-performance at reducing, while p-type at oxidizing conditions. The TE module was exposed to two different atmospheres and demonstrated higher stability in N2 atmosphere than in air. The maximum electrical power output decreased after 40 h when the hot side was exposed to N2 at 600 °C, while only 1 h at 400 °C in ambient air was enough to oxidize (La0.12Sr0.88)0.95TiO3 followed by a reduced electrical power output. The module generated a maximum electrical power of 0.9 mW (~ 4.7 mW/cm2) at 600 °C hot side and ΔT ~ 570 K in N2, while 0.15 mW (~ 0.8 mW/cm2) at 400 °C hot side and ΔT ~ 370 K in air. A stability limit of Ca3Co3.93O9+δ at ~ 700 °C in N2 was determined by in situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction. 2020 The Author(s). Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

More than 1000 crystalline silicide materials have been screened for thermoelectric properties using first-principles atomistic calculations coupled with the semi-classical Boltzmann transport equation. Compounds that contain radioactive, toxic, rare, and expensive elements as well as oxides, hydrides, carbides, nitrides, and halides have been neglected in the study. The already well-known silicides with good thermoelectric properties, such as SiGe, Mg2Si, and MnSix, are successfully predicted to be promising compounds along with a number of other binary and ternary silicide compositions. Some of these materials have only been scarcely studied in the literature, with no thermoelectric properties being reported in experimental papers. These novel materials can be very interesting for thermoelectric applications provided that they can be heavily doped to give a sufficiently high charge carrier concentration and that they can be alloyed with isoelectronic elements to achieve adequately low phonon thermal conductivity. The study concludes with a list of the most promising silicide compounds that are recommended for further experimental and theoretical investigations.

Higher manganese silicide (HMS) alloys (Mnx-αMoαSiy-βGeβ (x = 0.99–1.011, α = 0.005–0.02, y = 1.75, β = 0.005–0.01)) were studied to elucidate the effect of Mo and Ge pertaining to oxidation. Oxidation experiments were conducted using thermogravimetry and characterized using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Isoconversion experiments below 450 °C, shows that doping (up to 2 at%) raises the oxidation potential of HMS. Isothermally, the oxidation rate reduces buy one order of magnitude by doping on Mn and/or Si sites from 0.5 to 2 at%, revealing that the dopants-based oxides do not lessen the robustness of SiO2 oxide.

Buildings in private and domestic use are responsible for about 30% of the global greenhouse gas emissions attributable mainly to their need for heating and cooling energy. This corresponds to about 40% of the global final energy consumption. Therefore, a viable implementation of building energy efficiency policies is inevitable to realize a transformation of the energy system to mitigate climate change. Within the building sector lies a huge potential for emission reduction consisting in the renovation of the existing building stock and climate-friendly building guidelines applicable to new constructions, both adapting CO2-neutral technology solutions. However, as there are several different pathways leading to a decarbonized energy system, there is always the question which political and technological solutions are most efficient, effective, and feasible. This paper aims to analyze building efficiency policy measures and instruments and the related technological solutions in two front-runner countries of the energy transition, possessing different structural conditions: Germany and Norway. We hence apply a comparative approach which allows us to present and assess the policies in place. The paper answers three research questions: (1) Which policies prevail in Germany and Norway to foster the deployment of energy efficient and decarbonized solutions for residential buildings? (2) How do these policies respond to country-specific barriers to the energy transition in the building sector, and (3) What effects do they have on the actual implementation of technological and societal solutions? This research provides a new insight to the highly relevant topic of energy efficiency in buildings in the context of international Intended Nationally Determined Contribution benchmarking and discusses some unsolved trade-offs in the translation of the global climate governance into the national building sector.

Thermoelectric generators are a promising technology for waste heat recovery. As new materials and devices enter a market penetration stage, it is of interest to employ fast and efficient measurement methods to evaluate the long-term stability of thermoelectric materials in combination with metallization and coating (functionalized thermoelectric legs). We have investigated a method for measuring several thermoelectric legs simultaneously. The legs are put under a common temperature gradient, and the electrical characteristics of each leg are measured individually during thermal cycling. Using this method, one can test different types of metallization and coating applied to skutterudite thermoelectric legs and look at the relative changes over time. Postcharacterization of these initial tests with skutterudite legs using a potential Seebeck microprobe and an electron microscope showed that oxidation and interlayer diffusion are the main reasons for the gradual increase in internal resistance and the decrease in open-circuit voltage. Although we only tested skutterudite material in this work, the method is fully capable of testing all kinds of material, metallization, and coating. It is thus a promising method for studying the relationship between failure modes and mechanisms of functionalized thermoelectric legs.

High temperature oxidation of Mg 2 Si 1- x Sn x alloys ( x = 0.1 ⿿ 0.6) has been investigated. The oxidation rate was slow for temperatures below 430 °C. In the temperature range between 430⿿500 °C all the alloys exhibited breakaway oxidation. The onset temperature of the breakaway region in general decreased with increasing level of Sn in the alloy. The breakaway behavior is explained by a combination of the formation of a non-protective MgO layer and the formation of Sn-rich liquid at the interface between the oxide and Mg depleted Mg 2 Sn.

We have investigated p-type skutterudite samples with the nominal composition Ce0.6Co2Fe2Sb12 synthesized from elementary constituents by gas atomization and conventional melting, and also those synthesized from ternary and binary phases such as Fe x Co1−x Sb2 and CeSb2, respectively, which were mixed and subsequently ball-milled. We conducted measurements of the temperature-dependent transport properties (Seebeck coefficient, thermal/electrical conductivity) and carried out scanning electron microscope analysis, electron probe micro-analysis and powder x-ray diffraction to obtain information about microstructure and elementary distribution of the phases. We show that the presented synthesis methods each possess particular strengths but ultimately, however, lead to different final compositions of the skutterudite phase and secondary phases, which significantly influence the thermoelectric properties of the material. Material prepared using an educt method gave the best thermoelectric properties with a peak ZT of 0.7. Furthermore, we show that even an apparent homogeneous skutterudite area within the material exhibits varying stoichiometry in each grain even though they conform to the solubility range of cerium in this p-type skutterudite. Moreover, we show that marcasite is preferred as an educt over the arsenopyrite phase and discuss the formation of the p-type skutterudite phase with these synthesis techniques.

The main goals for the silicon wafering industry are to improve the surface quality of wafers by reducing the total thickness variation and subsurface defects and to increase the production by reducing the wafer thickness. To attain these goals, it is important to understand the material removal mechanisms involved in the process, which at the moment are little understood and explored. In this study, the effect of slurry parameters on the wear rate and surface roughness of solar grade silicon have been investigated using a tribological approach. A reciprocating pin-on-plate tribometer has been used to simulate the abrasion process occurring in a slurry-based multi-wire silicon saw. The tribological system consisted of silicon, SiC slurry, and stainless steel counterpart. The results showed that a narrow size distribution of the SiC particles in the slurry increases the wear rate and improves the surface quality. The shape factors of the SiC particles in the slurry were also investigated and revealed that particles with lower degree circularity and higher aspect ratio led to lower roughness.

Thermoelectric devices based on oxides are good candidates for energy harvesting technologies for use in aggressive conditions where the materials should withstand high temperatures and corrosive environments over prolonged time. This leads to a natural concern for the stability of the electrical contacts, especially on the hot side of the module. In this work, we have assembled several prototype unicouple thermoelectric modules made by pyrolyzed and spark plasma sintered n-type CaMnO3 and p-type Ca3Co4O9 and then tested under different conditions mimicking end-user applications. For baseline experiments we have chosen to use nickel as the contact material in order to show the effect of its oxidation on performance. In later work we will utilize more oxidation resistant contact materials. A maximum specific power output of 56 mW/cm2 with a temperature difference of 760°C was obtained. Cycling test between 400 to 800°C during a period of 1 week showed a reduction in power output of more than 50% mainly due to crack-formation and oxidation near the nickel/oxide interface © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).