Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
A total of 60% of energy produced in the United States is wasted as heat, which could be directly converted into 3.6 MWh of electricity using thermoelectric (TE) materials via Seebeck effect. However, the potential impact of TE technology is hindered by the heavy usage of toxic, rare, and expensive (e.g., Te and Se) elements in conventional TE materials (e.g., Bi2Te3, PbTe, and SiGe alloys). Thus, our effort in this area is centered around on the discovery of earth abundant and non-toxic materials (e.g. oxides and nitrides) to reach high power output. We are also exploring the opportunity of using thermoelectric devices for energy harvesting in civil infrastructures.
Related Publications:
K. Yazawa, Y. Feng, and N. Lu (2021) "Conformal heat energy harvester on Steam4 pipelines for powering IoT sensors", Energy Conversion and Management, 244, 114487
E. Witkoske, D. Guzman, Y. Feng, A. Strachan, M. Lundstrom, N. Lu (2019) " The use of strain to tailor electronic thermoelectric transport properties: A first principles study of 2H-phase CuAlO2", Journal of Applied Physics, 125, 082531
Y. Feng, E. Witkoske, E. S Bell, Y. Wang, A. Tzempelikos, I.T. Ferguson, N. Lu (2018) " Advanced Metal Oxides and Nitrides Thermoelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting", ES Materials & Manufacturing, 1,pp.13-20
F. Cao, H. Zhang, H. Zhou, N. Lu (2018) " Transient Performance Analysis of the Solar Optical Guide Lighting System in Building Groups", Energies, 11, pp. 2898
Y. Feng, A. Elquist, Y. Zhang, K. Gao, I. Ferguson, A. Tzempeliko, N. Lu (2019) " Temperature Dependent Thermoelectric Properties of Cuprous Delafossite Oxides", Composites Part B, 156, pp.108-112.
F. Cao, Q. Wei , H. Liu , N. Lu, L. Zhao, L. Guo (2018) " Development of the direct solar photocatalytic water splitting system for hydrogen production in Northwest China: Design and evaluation of photoreactor", Renewable Energy, 121, 153-163.
Y. Feng, X. Jiang, E. Ghafari, B. Kucukgok, C. Zhang, I. Ferguson, N. Lu(2018) "Metal Oxides for Thermoelectric Power Generation and Beyond", Adv. Comps. Hybrid Mater., 1, pp. 114-126.
S. Ghahari, E. Ghafari, N. Lu (2017)"Effect of ZnO nanoparticles on thermoelectric properties of cement composite for waste heat harvesting", Construction and Building Materials, 46, pp. 755–763.
Q. Hao, D. Xu, N. Lu, H. Zhao (2016) "High-throughput ZT predictions of nanoporous bulk materials as next-generation thermoelectric materials: A material genome approach", Physical Review B, 93, (2016) 205206.
B. Kucukgok, X. Wu, X. Wang, Z. Liu, I.T. Ferguson, N. Lu 2016) "The structural properties of InGaN alloys and the interdependence on the thermoelectric behavior", AIP Advances, 6, (2016) 025305.
B. Wang, X. Zhang, A. Zhang, X. Zhou, B. Kucukgok, N. Lu, H. Xiao, X. Wang, I. T. Ferguson (2015) "Room Temperature Thermoelectric Properties of GaN Thin Films Grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition", Acta Physica Sinica, 64, (2015) 047202.
B. Kucukgok, B. Hussain, C. Zhou, I.T. Ferguson, N. Lu (2015) "Thermoelectric Properties of ZnO Thin Films Grown by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition", MRS Proceedings, 1805, mrss15-2136936.
Q. Hao, H. Zhao, N. Lu (2015) "Broad Search of Better Thermoelectric Oxides via First-Principles Computations", MRS Proceedings, 1774, mrss15-2136797 doi:10.1557/opl.2015.732.
B. Kucukgok, B. Hussain, C. Zhou, I.T. Ferguson, N. Lu (2015) "Investigation of Thermoelectric Properties of P-Type GaN Thin Films", MRS Proceedings, 1774, mrss15-2136797.
B. Kucukgok, B. Wang, A. G. Melton, N. Lu, I. T. Ferguson (2014) "Comparison of Thermoelectric Properties of GaN and ZnO Samples", Physica Status Solidi (PSS), C11, (3-4), pp894-897.
III-Nitrides for Energy Production: Photovoltaic and Thermoelectric Applications, Semiconductor Science and Technology, 28 (2013) pp 457473-13. Invited Review Article.
Suppression of Thermal Conductivity in InGaN Alloys by Nanometer-scale Disorder, Applied Physics Letters, 102 (2013) pp 121906-4.
Investigation of wide bandgap semiconductor for thermoelectric applications, MRS Proceedings, 1490, pp 161-166.
Thermoelectric properties of undoped and si-doped bulk GaN, MRS Spring online Proceeding, 1558, mrss 13-1558-09-03.
Spin Seebeck Effect in Gd Doped GaN Thin Films, MRS online Proceeding,s 1329, mrss:11-1329-i07-02.
Investigation of Wide bandgap semiconductors of Thermoelectric applications, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proceeding, Vol.1490, Fall (2012).
Thermopower Study of GaN-Based Materials for Next Generation Thermoelectric Devices and Applications, Journal of Electronic Materials, Volume 40, Issue 5, pp 513-517.
Seebeck and Spin Seebeck effect in Gd-doped GaN thin films for Thermoelectric devices and applications, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Online Proceeding, Vol.1329, mrss 11-132-i07-02.
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