Importance of high power factor in thermoelectric materials for power generation application: A perspective

[Display omitted] The figure of merit (ZT) has been used for more than half a century to guide the research of thermoelectric materials. In this perspective viewpoint, we emphasize that the power factor (PF) is more important than the thermal conductivity for thermoelectric power generation for a gi...

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Published inScripta materialia Vol. 111; no. C; pp. 3 - 9
Main Authors Liu, Weishu, Kim, Hee Seok, Jie, Qing, Ren, Zhifeng
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2016
Elsevier
Subjects
(PF)eng
(ZT)eng
Figure of merit
Heat transfer
Indicators
Power factor
Power generation
Thermal conductivity
Thermoelectric
Thermoelectric materials
Thermoelectric power generation
(PF)eng
Thermoelectric
Power factor
(ZT)eng
Figure of merit
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Summary:[Display omitted] The figure of merit (ZT) has been used for more than half a century to guide the research of thermoelectric materials. In this perspective viewpoint, we emphasize that the power factor (PF) is more important than the thermal conductivity for thermoelectric power generation for a given ZT. We also propose the newly defined engineering parameters (ZT)eng and (PF)eng are the more practical indicators to show the temperature dependent efficiency and output power, as compared with conventional ZT and PF.
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SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577
USDOE
ISSN:1359-6462
1872-8456
DOI:10.1016/j.scriptamat.2015.07.045