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High-performance thermoelectrics and challenges for practical devices

Nature Materials volume 21, pages 503–513 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Thermoelectric materials can be potentially employed in solid-state devices that harvest waste heat and convert it to electrical power, thereby improving the efficiency of fuel utilization. The spectacular increases in the efficiencies of these materials achieved over the past decade have raised expectations regarding the use of thermoelectric generators in various energy saving and energy management applications, especially at mid to high temperature (400–900 °C). However, several important issues that prevent successful thermoelectric generator commercialization remain unresolved, in good part because of the lack of a research roadmap.

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Fig. 1: The power and conversion efficiency of PbTe-based modules.
Fig. 2: The conversion efficiency and stability of skutterudite and half-Heusler-based modules.
Fig. 3: SnSe-based modules and summaries of mechanical and thermal properties of TE materials.

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Acknowledgements

TE materials research at NTU is supported by Singapore MOE AcRF Tier 2 under grant nos. 2018-T2-1-010, Singapore A*STAR Pharos Program SERC 1527200022 and Singapore A*STAR project A19D9a0096. Basic TE materials research at Northwestern University is supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science and Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under award no. DE-SC0014520.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Qingyu Yan

  2. Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Mercouri G. Kanatzidis

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  1. Qingyu Yan
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  2. Mercouri G. Kanatzidis
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The manuscript was written with contributions from both authors. Both authors have approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mercouri G. Kanatzidis.

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Yan, Q., Kanatzidis, M.G. High-performance thermoelectrics and challenges for practical devices. Nat. Mater. 21, 503–513 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-01109-w

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