2024/08/13 by Md Mofasser Mallick, Leonard Franke, Mohamed Hussein +4 · 1 voice
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · Engineering · #Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/smsc.202400257
openalex publication_date 2024/08/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Printed thermoelectric generators (TEGs) show promising potential for converting waste heat into useful electricity at a low cost but fall short of exhibiting a conversion efficiency anticipated from materials’ properties. The output power of conventionally printed TEGs in the “π‐type” geometry suffers due to low thermal voltage and low current because of high thermal and electrical contact resistance, respectively. Herein, a type of printed p–n junction TEGs (PN‐TEGs) as a possible remedy is explored. Two printed PN‐TEGs with different thicknesses are fabricated using printed p‐type Bi 0.5 Sb 1.5 Te 3 and n‐type Bi 2 Te 2.7 Se 0.3 materials. The PN‐TEGs show a promising way to minimize the influence of thermal and electrical resistance in printed TEGs. In the experimental and simulation results, the significant impact of PN‐TEGs’ dimensions on their power outputs is revealed. Also, a conventional “π‐type” printed TEG is fabricated and its performance is studied. The optimized PN‐TEG with a single thermocouple yields ≈14 times higher power output density of 5.3 μW cm −2 at a Δ T of 25 K compared to “π‐type” printed TEGs.