• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.175-180
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• 2008

Thermoelectric materials convert temperature difference to electric power for power generation and vice versa for refrigeration. Recent advances in enhancing the thermoelectric figure-of-merit shed light on efficient power generation from the waste heat available in industries and vehicles. Nanoscale phenomena with both nanoscale constituent-embedded bulk samples and nanoscale materials proving enhanced thermoelectric performance have been widely reviewed. Bulk materials of crystal-orientation and nano-structured particle embedding seem to promise a higher thermoelectric figure-of-merit and an effective power generation application. As a preliminary study, Si-Ge nanocomposite was prepared with spark plasma sintering method and its properties were examined.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.227-233
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• 2011

The low efficiency of bulk thermoelectric materials has limited the widespread application of thermoelectric power generation. Theoretical and experimental investigations indicate that materials prepared in the form of nanowires show higher thermoelectric coefficients, thus promising to revolutionize the field. This article reviews the basics of thermoelectric power generation, conventional devices, the role of nanowires and the current status of the field.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.292-296
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• 2006

Effects of rapid thermal annealing of bismuth telluride thin films on their thermoelectric properties were investigated. Films with four different compositions were elaborated by co-sputtering of Bi and Te targets. Rapid thermal treatments in range of $300{\sim}400^{\circ}C$ were carried out during 10 minutes under the reducing atmosphere (Ar with 10% $H_2$). As the temperature of thermal treatment increased, carrier concentrations of films decreased while their mobilities increased. These changes were clearly observed for the films close to the stoichiometric composition. Rapid thermal treatment was found to be effective in improving the thermoelectric properties of $Bi_2Te_3$ films. Recrystallization of $Bi_2Te_3$ phase has caused the enhancement of thermoelectric properties, along with the decrease of the carrier concentration. Maximum values of Seebeck coefficient and power factor were obtained for the films treated at $400^{\circ}C$ (about $-128{\mu}V/K$ and $9{\times}10^{-4}\;W/K^2m$, respectively). With further higher temperature ($500^{\circ}C$), thermoelectric properties deteriorated due to the evaporation of Te element and subsequent disruption of film's structure.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.336-341
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• 2010

The present study focused on the synthesis of Bi-Sb-Te-based thermoelectric powder by an oxidereduction process. The phase structure, particle size of the synthesized powders were analyzed using XRD and SEM. The synthesized powder was sintered by the spark plasma sintering method. The thermoelectric property of the sintered body was evaluated by measuring the Seebeck coefficient and specific electric resistivity. The $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_3$ powder had been synthesized by a combination of mechanical milling, calcination and reduction processes using mixture of $Bi_2O_3$, $Sb_2O_3$ and $TeO_2$ powders. The sintered body of the $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_3$ powder synthesized by an oxide-reduction process showed p-type thermoelectric characteristics, even though it had lower thermoelectric properties than the sintered body of the $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_3$ thermoelectric powder synthesized by the conventional melting-crushing method.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.136-141
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• 2010

Bismuth-telluride based $(Bi_{0.2}Sb_{0.8})_2Te_3$ thermoelectric powders were fabricated by two-step planetary milling process which produces bimodal size distribution ranging $400\;nm\;{\sim}\;2\;{\mu}m$. The powders were reduced in hydrogen atmosphere to minimize oxygen contents which cause degradation of thermoelectric performance by decreasing electrical conductivity. Oxygen contents were decreased from 0.48% to 0.25% by the reduction process. In this study, both the as-synthesized and the reduced powders were consolidated by the spark plasma sintering process at $350^{\circ}C$ for 10 min at the heating rate of $100^{\circ}C/min$ and then their thermoelectric properties were investigated. The sintered samples using the reduced p-type thermoelectric powders show 15% lower specific electrical resistivity ($0.8\;m{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$) than those of the as-synthesized powders while Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity do not change a lot. The results confirmed that ZT value of thermoelectric performance at room temperature was improved by 15% due to high electric conductivity caused by the controlled oxygen contents present at bismuth telluride materials.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.125-133
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• 2016

From the first application of a thermoelectric module to nowtoday, it has been more than half a century. The application of a thermoelectric module is becoming more and more widely accepted since, people's requirement rely more and more on the efficiency of thermoelectric modules and their reliability become higher and higher. So people pay more and more attention to the thermoelectric module. In Around the world, the more research for into improving the efficiency of thermoelectric modules is focused on the current materials. at present. However, the research of into available materials had has some limitations, and the research of materials had reached a bottleneckthere are limits to current applications. On the other hand, from the production process, if we assembled by materials withoutmodules without any damages and achieve the ideal state of a joint, we can make the a product to maximize performance and have a longer service life. SoTherefore, in this study we will prove the relationship between the any defects inside and the efficiency of a thermoelectric module to improve the quality management and performance of modern thermoelectric modules at present.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2010

Ceramics with perovskite-type structure are interesting functional materials for several energy conversion processes due to their flexible structure and a variety of properties. Prominent examples are electrode materials in fuel cells and batteries, thermoelectric converters, piezoelectrics, and photocatalysts. The very attractive physical-chemical properties of perovskite-type phases can be modified in a controlled way by changing the composition and crystallographic structure in tailor-made soft chemistry synthesis processes. Improved thermoelectric materials such as cobaltates with p-type conductivity and n-type manganates are developed by following theoretical predictions and tested to be applied in oxidic thermoelectric converters.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.12a
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• pp.321-322
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• 2015

Thermoelectric power generation has emerged as a promising alternative technology because it offers a potential application in the direct conversion of waste heat into electric energy. The performance of thermoelectric power generator depends on thermoelectric materials and thermoelectric power module designs. The main objective of this study is to design a 100W thermoelectric generation (TEG) module and to get optimal operating conditions of the module. The design and performance of the TEG module will be presented.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.211-217
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• 2006

The three-dimensional numerical analysis has been carried out to figure out the effect of the thermoelectric element thickness on the thermal performance of the thermo-electric micro-cooler. The small-size and column-type thermoelectric cooler is considered. It is known that tellurium compounds currently have the highest cooling performance around the room temperature. Thus, in the present study, $Bi_{2}Te_{3}$ and $Sb_{2}Te_{3}$ are selected as the n- and p-type thermoelectric materials, respectively. The thermoelectric leg considered is less than $20{\mu}m$ thick. The thickness of the leg may affect the thermal and electrical transport through the interfaces between the leg and metal conductors. The effect of the thermoelectric element thickness on the thermal performance of the cooler has been investigated with parameters such as the temperature difference, the current, and the cooling power.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1135-1140
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• 2008

Bismuth-telluride based thin film materials are grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition(MOCVD). A planar type thermoelectric device has been fabricated using p-type $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ and n-type $Bi_2Te_3$ thin films. Firstly, the p-type thermoelectric element was patterned after growth of $4{\mu}m$ thickness of $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ layer. Again n-type $Bi_2Te_3$ film was grown onto the patterned p-type thermoelectric film and n-type strips are formed by using selective chemical etchant for $Bi_2Te_3$. The top electrical connector was formed by thermally deposited metal film. The generator consists of 20 pairs of p- and n-type legs. We demonstrate complex structures of different conduction types of thermoelectric element on same substrate by two separate runs of MOCVD with etch-stop layer and selective etchant for n-type thermoelectric material. Device performance was evaluated on a number of thermoelectric devices. To demonstrate power generation, one side of the sample was heated by heating block and the voltage output measured. As expected for a thermoelectric generator, the voltage decreases linearly, while the power output rises to a maximum. The highest estimated power of $1.3{\mu}W$ is obtained for the temperature difference of 45 K. we provide a promising procedure for fabricating thin film thermoelectric generators by using MOCVD grown thermoelectric materials which may have nanostructure with high thermoelectric properties.