Developed by the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), the eco-friendly, high-performance thermoelectric material is based on silver selenide (Ag₂Se), and fabricated under significantly milder temperature.
Researchers have developed a new scalable route to turn heat into electricity. Developed by the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology , the eco-friendly, high-performance thermoelectric material is based on silver selenide , and fabricated under significantly milder temperature and pressure conditions than conventional methods.
Researchers also revealed that the thermoelectric material can directly convert heat into electricity and vice versa.Thermoelectric materials attract significant attentionSuch materials are attracting significant attention as key energy technologies for applications such as electronic cooling and waste heat recovery.The research team revealed that they employed silver selenide , a material composed of relatively abundant elements , offering a simpler and more environmentally benign alternative.The team synthesized Ag₂Se nanoparticles via a solution-based process and introduced excess selenium to design a Se-rich composition . Through a simple heat-treatment process, they successfully fabricated a dense bulk thermoelectric material.Applicable to small-scale power generation systemsThis technology is expected to be applicable to small-scale power generation systems that convert heat into electricity in industrial processes, data centers, and solar thermal systems. In the long term, it also holds promise as a power source for wearable IoT devices and healthcare sensors, according to a press release.“The key achievement is the realization of high-performance thermoelectric materials without complex doping or high-temperature and high-pressure processes,” said the research team.The key mechanism lies in leveraging the relatively low melting point of selenium. During annealing, selenium transitions into a liquid phase and infiltrates the interparticle voids between Ag₂Se grains, promoting liquid-phase-assisted grain growth and densification. This process enhances grain connectivity while reducing porosity, resulting in improved electrical conductivity and suppressed lattice thermal conductivity, as per the release.Published in the journal Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials, the work reveals a facile and scalable strategy presented for fabricating high-performance dense Ag2Se1.2 thermoelectric material by incorporating excess Se in solution-processed Ag2Se powders.“In experiments, Ag2Se1.2 exhibited a high-power factor and reduced lattice thermal conductivity leading to a maximum figure of merit of 0.927 at 393 K. The shape-conformable nature of Ag2Se1.2 also allows for the fabrication of cylindrical thermoelectric generators with a stable output voltage and power at various temperature differences,” said researchers in the study.The research team also revealed that their strategy is a highly effective approach for improving not only the thermoelectric and mechanical performances of Ag2Se but also its applicability in curved or flexible energy harvesting devices.In addition, the material exhibited more than twofold improvements in compressive strength and Young’s modulus, enabling robust mechanical performance and applicability to complex or curved device geometries.The team also stated that thermoelectric materials operate based on two main principles: the Peltier effect, where electrical current induces heating or cooling, and the Seebeck effect, where electricity is generated from a temperature gradient.
Heat Into Electricity Thermoelectric Thermoelectric Material
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