CAREER: Exploring Novel Organic Thermoelectric Composites with Hierarchical Architecture and High Figure of Merit

该学院早期职业发展(CAEREAR)项目的研究目标是合成和表征具有分层结构和高优值系数的新型有机热电复合材料，以实现高效的热电转换。热电转换涉及热能和电能之间的转换。这一过程可以通过收集各种热源来发电，并且它是可再生的、可靠的和可扩展的。热电转换效率在很大程度上取决于材料--S优值系数。有机材料具有重量轻、资源丰富、易于加工、环境友好等特点，在热电领域具有广阔的应用前景。然而，它们目前的优值系数很低，大大阻碍了它们的潜在应用。在这项工作中，将发展新颖的化学和物理处理方法来合成新型的层状有机复合材料。将研究过程-结构-属性的关系，以适应高品质系数的分层体系结构。我们将从理论和实验上研究界面结构和热电行为，以了解层状复合材料中的载流子输运，进而扩展声子和电子输运的极限，以获得优异的热电性能。如果研究成功，这一研究结果将为设计和合成具有所需体属性的纳米结构提供一种新的方法。预期的结果还将产生一类新的有机热电材料，用于高效的热电转换，并为收获可再生能源奠定基础。该教育计划将与研究工作紧密结合，将：(1)启动一项新的计划，培养具有跨学科知识和技能的工程学学生；2)刺激年轻学生追求科学和工程事业；3)招募和指导少数族裔学生进行尖端纳米技术研究。

The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project is to synthesize and characterize novel organic thermoelectric composites with hierarchical architecture and high figure of merit for efficient thermoelectric conversion. Thermoelectric conversion involves the conversion between thermal energy and electrical energy. This process can be used for power generation by harvesting various heat sources and it is renewable, reliable, and scalable. The efficiency of thermoelectric conversion is significantly determined by the material?s figure of merit. Organic materials hold promise for thermoelectric application due to their attractive features, such as lightweight, abundance, easy processing and environmentally-benign characteristics. However, their current figure of merit is very low, and significantly hindered their potential applications. In this work, original chemical and physical processing methods will be developed to synthesize novel hierarchical organic composites. The process-structure-property relationship will be investigated to tailor the hierarchical architecture for high figure of merit. The interfacial structure and thermoelectric behavior will be theoretically and experimentally investigated to understand carrier transport in the hierarchical composites, and then expand the limits of phonon and electronic transport for exceptional thermoelectric properties.If successful, the results of this research will enable a new method to design and synthesize nanostructures for desired bulk properties. The expected results will also result in a new class of organic thermoelectric materials for efficient thermoelectric conversion, and lay a foundation for harvesting renewable energy. The educational plan, which will be closely integrated with research efforts, will: (1) launch a new program for training engineering students with interdisciplinary knowledge and skills; 2) stimulate young students to pursue careers in science and engineering; 3) recruit and mentor minority students on cutting-edge nanotechnology research.