BRITE Synergy: Additive Manufacturing of Composite Materials with Transverse Thermoelectricity

BRITE Synergy：横向热电复合材料增材制造

• 批准号: 2135526
• 负责人: Fei Ren
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Temple University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-02-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2135526&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: BRITE; Synergy; Additive; Manufacturing; Composite

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.

这个促进工程变革和公平进步的研究理念（BRITE）协同项目将研究热电材料的增材制造，热电材料是可以实现热能和电能之间直接转换的半导体。热电装置可通过回收热过程中的废热来提高能源效率。热电冷却器可以实现固态冷却，从而无需使用制冷剂。目前的热电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学和热学性质的热电材料，因此传热发生在垂直于材料电场的方向上。这种横向特性可以实现新型热电器件的设计和制造。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冷却和制冷提供新的解决方案。这项工作还将增进新型热电材料增材制造的知识。这项工作的成果将有助于在美国推广增材制造技术。横向热电材料能够解耦电和热传输，从而能够设计独特的热电器件，例如具有大纵横比和复杂形状的热电器件。尽管理论预测，具有工程各向异性的复合材料可以实现显着的横向热电，但使用传统的制造方法很难制造这种结构。这项工作将使用增材制造来构建复合热电材料。研究团队将检查增材制造样品的微观结构，包括纹理和孔隙率，并将这些微观结构特征与材料特性相关联。数学模型将用于了解材料各向异性和缺陷对横向热电的影响。预计这项研究工作将导致在复合横向热电材料的制造参数、微观结构和性能之间建立定量关系。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。