NSF/DOE Thermoelectrics Partnership: An integrated approach towards efficient, scalable, and low cost thermoelectric waste heat recovery devices for vehicles

[48708]这个项目涉及弗吉尼亚理工大学能量收集材料和系统中心的研究人员及其工业合作伙伴Romny Scientific。研究人员寻求开发和使用新的制造技术来实现热电材料的大批量生产。此外，该项目将推进新型散热器和接口设计，目标是最大限度地提高汽车应用中废热转化为电能的效率。智力优势：新的自动化气溶胶沉积技术将被开发出来，以快速合成硅和硅。此外，基于等静压技术，这些和其他成分的纳米复合材料将被配制。热管理和散热器的设计将涉及诸如使用微型通道和旋涡射流冲击等增强方法，以最大限度地提高热电材料的温差，从而最大限度地提高转换效率。通过对有效性能的分析和测量，关注界面行为与加工和制造技术之间的关系，将界面电阻降至最低。先进的计量学，包括但不限于，衍射和光谱技术，温度相关的x射线衍射，原位环境高分辨率扫描电子显微镜和高分辨率透射电子显微镜将用于(i)确定热电材料特性和（ii）在全尺寸实验中测量热电模块的性能。更广泛的影响：该项目旨在开发新的热电材料和模块设计，最终提高汽车应用的燃油经济性和减少排放。本科生和研究生将参与研究，并将有机会在工业合作伙伴罗姆尼科学公司和海军海底作战中心实习。这项研究将被整合到课程作业中，包括一门现有的研究生课程，重点是能源收集。原型模块将在全尺寸车辆应用中进行演示，以达到推广目的。还将与初高中学生和教师、当地工业和小企业以及几家当地的hbcu进行接触，并将研究纳入年度能源收集研讨会。

1048708Huxtable This project involves researchers at the Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems at Virginia Tech and their industrial partner, Romny Scientific. The investigators seek to develop and use novel fabrication techniques to enable high volume production of thermoelectric materials. In addition, the project will advance novel heat sink and interface designs with the goal to maximize the efficiency of conversion of waste heat to electric power in vehicle applications. Intellectual Merit: New automated aerosol deposition techniques to rapidly synthesize skutterudites and silicides will be developed. In addition, nanocomposites of these, and other, compositions will be formulated, based on isostatic pressing technology. Thermal management and heat sink design will involve augmentation methods such as use of minichannels and swirling flow jet impingement to maximize temperature differences across the thermoelectric material and, in turn, maximize the conversion efficiency. Interface resistances will be minimized through analysis and measurement of the effective properties with attention focused on the relationship between the interface behavior and the processing and fabrication techniques. Advanced metrology including, but not limited to, diffraction and spectroscopic techniques, temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction, in-situ environmental high resolution scanning electron microscopy, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy will be used to both (i) determine thermoelectric material properties and (ii) measure the performance of thermoelectric modules in full scale experiments. Broader Impact: The project seeks to develop new thermoelectric materials and module designs to ultimately improve fuel economy and reduce emissions in vehicle applications. Undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in the research and will be given opportunities for internships with the industrial partner, Romny Scientific, and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. The research will be integrated into coursework including an existing graduate course with a specific focus on energy harvesting. The prototype modules will be demonstrated in full scale vehicle applications for outreach purposes. Outreach to middle- and high school students and teachers, local industry and small businesses, and several local HBCUs will also be conducted as will incorporation of the research in an annual energy harvesting workshop.