EAGER: Manufacturing of Novel Functionally-Graded Thermoelectric Nanocomposites for Energy Application

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The research objective of this EArly-Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) is to explore a combinatorial nanoparticle synthesis/processing technique to manufacture a new type of thermoelectric material. A central issue in the thermoelectric community is to develop materials with a high figure-of-merit ZT. During the past decade, most research activities have focused on strategies for enhancing the peak ZT. However, the efficiency of thermoelectric devices depends on the average ZT over the working temperature range. Spatially-uniform thermoelectric materials exhibit a substantially lower average ZT than their peak value when operating over a large temperature difference. The University of Maryland proposes to explore a combinatorial nanoparticle synthesis/processing technique to manufacture a new type of thermoelectric material: functionally-graded two-component nanocomposites, in which the use of the 'functionally graded' principle in conjunction with ?two-component nanocomposites? is expected to enhance both average and peak figure-of-merit. This effort will experimentally examine the process-structure-property relationships in model composite systems where the nanocomponent size and composition and their spatial distribution can be controlled. The proposed research will be integrated with the educational mission of University of Maryland (UMD), College Park and provide a broad range of impact on student learning and community outreach. Apart from the education and training opportunities for the students directly supported in this project, underrepresented undergraduate students will be involved in this research through the Undergraduate Research Assistant Program. Research results will also be quickly disseminated to industry via the consortium of Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEEE), which has members from more than thirty companies.