Decreasing the Effective Thermal Conductivity in Glass Supported Thermoelectric Layers

As thermoelectric devices begin to make their way into commercial applications, the emphasis is put on decreasing the thermal conductivity. In this purely theoretical study, finite element analysis is used to determine the effect of a supporting material on the thermal conductivity of a thermoelectr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2016-03, Vol.11 (3), p.e0151708-e0151708
Main Authors: Bethke, Kevin, Andrei, Virgil, Rademann, Klaus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Borosilicate glass
Borosilicate glasses
Chemistry
Computer simulation
Conductivity
Copper
Copper oxides
Efficiency
Engineering and Technology
Finite element method
Glass
Glass substrates
Heat conductivity
Heat flux
Heat transfer
Heating
Intermetallic compounds
Lead base alloys
Lead tellurides
Nanowires
Physical Sciences
Research and Analysis Methods
Semiconductors
Silicon
Temperature
Temperature effects
Temperature gradient
Temperature gradients
Thermal Conductivity
Thermoelectricity
Thin films
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Summary:As thermoelectric devices begin to make their way into commercial applications, the emphasis is put on decreasing the thermal conductivity. In this purely theoretical study, finite element analysis is used to determine the effect of a supporting material on the thermal conductivity of a thermoelectric module. The simulations illustrate the heat transfer along a sample, consisting from Cu, Cu2O and PbTe thermoelectric layers on a 1 mm thick Pyrex glass substrate. The influence of two different types of heating, at a constant temperature and at a constant heat flux, is also investigated. It is revealed that the presence of a supporting material plays an important role on lowering the effective thermal conductivity of the layer-substrate ensemble. By using thinner thermoelectric layers the effective thermal conductivity is further reduced, almost down to the value of the glass substrate. As a result, the temperature gradient becomes steeper for a fixed heating temperature, which allows the production of devices with improved performance under certain conditions. Based on the simulation results, we also propose a model for a robust thin film thermoelectric device. With this suggestion, we invite the thermoelectric community to prove the applicability of the presented concept for practical purposes.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0151708