BRITE Synergy: Additive Manufacturing of Composite Materials with Transverse Thermoelectricity

这一促进工程转型和公平进步的研究思路(BRITE)协同项目将研究热电材料的添加制造，热电材料是可以实现热能和电能直接转换的半导体。热电设备可以通过回收热过程中的废热来提高能源效率。热电制冷器可以实现固态冷却，从而消除制冷剂的使用。目前热电材料的制造实践依赖于机械加工和焊接等传统技术，这些技术不仅成本高昂，而且限制了设备设计。这项工作将研究具有横向电和热性质的热电材料，因此热传递发生在垂直于材料中的电场的方向上。这种横向特性可以设计和制造新的热电器件。横向热电技术可以为提高能源效率、非常规热能的利用以及固态制冷提供新的解决方案。这项工作还将促进对新型热电材料添加剂制造的了解。这项工作的成果将有助于在美国推广添加剂制造技术。横向热电材料能够将电和热传输分离，从而能够设计出独特的热电设备，如大长宽比和复杂形状的设备。虽然理论上预测，在具有工程各向异性的复合材料中可以实现显著的横向热电性，但使用传统的制造方法很难制造这种结构。这项工作将使用加法制造来构建复合热电材料。研究小组将检查添加制造的样品的微观结构，包括纹理和孔隙率，并将这些微观结构特征与材料性能相关联。数学模型将被用来理解材料各向异性和缺陷对横向热电性的影响。预计这项研究工作将导致建立复合横向热电材料的制造参数、微观结构和性能之间的定量关系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Boosting Research Ideas for Transformative and Equitable Advances in Engineering (BRITE) Synergy project will study additive manufacturing of thermoelectric materials, which are semiconductors that can achieve direct conversion between thermal energy and electricity. Thermoelectric devices can be used to improve energy efficiency by recovering waste heat from thermal processes. Thermoelectric coolers can achieve solid-state cooling that eliminates the usage of refrigerants. Current manufacturing practices for thermoelectrics rely on conventional technologies such as machining and soldering, which are not only costly but also limit device designs. This work will investigate thermoelectric materials with transverse electrical and thermal properties, so heat transfer occurs in a direction perpendicular to the electric field in the material. This transverse property can enable design and manufacturing of new thermoelectric devices. Transverse thermoelectric technologies can provide new solutions to improve energy efficiency, utilization of unconventional thermal energy, and solid-state cooling and refrigeration. This work will also advance knowledge of additive manufacturing of novel thermoelectric materials. The outcome of this work will help promote additive manufacturing technologies in the United States.Transverse thermoelectric materials are capable of decoupling electrical and thermal transport, which in turn enables design of unique thermoelectric devices such as those with large aspect ratios and complex shapes. Although theory has predicted that significant transverse thermoelectricity can be achieved in composite materials with engineered anisotropy, fabrication of such structures is difficult using conventional manufacturing methods. This work will use additive manufacturing to construct composite thermoelectric materials. The research team will examine the microstructures of additively manufactured samples, including textures and porosities, and correlate these microstructural features to the material properties. Mathematical modeling will be used to understand the effect of material anisotropy and defects on the transverse thermoelectricity. It is expected that this research effort will lead to establishment of a quantitative relationship between the manufacturing parameters, the microstructure, and the properties of composite transverse thermoelectric materials.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.