BRITE Synergy: Additive Manufacturing of Composite Materials with Transverse Thermoelectricity

这个促进工程变革和公平进步的研究思路（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力之间直接转换的半导体。热电装置可用于通过从热过程中回收废热来提高能源效率。热电冷却器可以实现固态冷却，消除了制冷剂的使用。目前热电器件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，而且限制了器件设计。这项工作将研究具有横向电和热特性的热电材料，因此热传递发生在垂直于材料中电场的方向上。这种横向特性可以实现新的热电器件的设计和制造。横向热电技术可以提供新的解决方案，以提高能源效率，利用非常规热能，以及固态冷却和制冷。这项工作还将推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促进美国的增材制造技术。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器件。虽然理论已经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，但是使用传统的制造方法制造这样的结构是困难的。这项工作将使用增材制造来构建复合热电材料。研究小组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。数学模型将被用来了解材料的各向异性和缺陷的横向热电效应。预计这项研究工作将导致建立一个定量关系的制造参数，微观结构，和复合横向热电材料的性能。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的，通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

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.