Discovery of new sustainable thermoelectric materials

该项目将涉及“新的可持续热电材料的发现”。将要研究的系统是：ZnxTi1-xNiSb、ZnxTi1-xNiSn3、ZxTi1-xNiSbSn1和TiNiSixGeySnz。根据结果，可以调整系统，也可以添加其他系统。材料将在高温下在熔炉中合成。起始材料将在惰性气体条件下放在手套箱中运输。将准备并密封玻璃安瓶。将使用热压和冷压。将用各种技术对获得的样品进行分析。首先，合成的样品必须使用例如X射线和中子衍射法进行表征。随着热电材料将温度梯度转化为电流，热电材料的热和电子传输特性令人感兴趣，我们将对其进行分析。其目的是实现一种更可持续的材料。为此，应优化与温度相关的参数，即塞贝克系数、密度、导热系数和扩散系数以及比热容。总体而言，目标是一个更好的品质系数zT。

The project will deal with the "Discovery of new sustainable thermoelectric materials". The systems to be investigated will be ZnxTi1-xNiSb, ZnxTi1-xNiSn, ZnxTi1-xNiSbSn and TiNiSixGeySnz. Depending on the results thesystems can be adjusted, or other systems could be added.The materials will be synthesised at high temperatures in furnaces. The starting materials will be carried under inert gasconditions in a glove box. Glass ampoules will be prepared and sealed. Usage of hot- and cold-press will be carried out.Analysis of the obtained samples will be done with various techniques.First the synthesised samples must be characterised with usage of e.g x-ray and neutron diffraction methods. As thermoelectric materials convert a temperature gradient into an electrical current, the thermal and electronic transportproperties are of interest and will be analysed. The aim is to achieve a more sustainable material. To achieve this, temperature dependent parameters, i.e. Seebeck coefficientS, density , thermal conductivity and diffusivity and specific heat capacity , should be optimised. Overall the aim is a betterfigure of merit zT.