Magnesium and Manganese Silicides For Efficient And Low Cost Thermo-Electric Power Generation

Trivedi, Sudhir B.¹  Kutcher, Susan W.¹  Rosemeier, Cory A.¹  Mayers, David¹  Singh, Jogender² 

[1] Brimrose Technology Corporation;Pennsylvania State Universit

关键词: Thermoelectric Power Generation (TEPG);    Field Assisted Spark Plasma Sintering Technology (FAST);    Magnesium Silicide;    Manganese Silicide;    TE Material;    Light-Weight;    Low-Cost;    Environmentally Friendly Materials;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1108470
RP-ID  :  DE-SC0009453_Final Report
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1108470
Others  :  Other: PR/Funding No.: 13S001301

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

Thermoelectric Power Generation (TEPG) is the most efficient and commercially deployable power generation technology for harvesting wasted heat from such things as automobile exhausts, industrial furnaces, and incinerators, and converting it into usable electrical power. We investigated the materials magnesium silicide (Mg2Si) and manganese silicide (MnSi) for TEG. MgSi2 and MnSi are environmentally friendly, have constituent elements that are abundant in the earth's crust, non-toxic, lighter and cheaper. In Phase I, we successfully produced Mg2Si and MnSi material with good TE properties. We developed a novel technique to synthesize Mg2Si with good crystalline quality, which is normally very difficult due to high Mg vapor pressure and its corrosive nature. We produced n-type Mg2Si and p-type MnSi nanocomposite pellets using FAST. Measurements of resistivity and voltage under a temperature gradient indicated a Seebeck coefficient of roughly 120 V/K on average per leg, which is quite respectable. Results indicated however, that issues related to bonding resulted in high resistivity contacts. Determining a bonding process and bonding material that can provide ohmic contact from room temperature to the operating temperature is an essential part of successful device fabrication. Work continues in the development of a process for reproducibly obtaining low resistance electrical contacts.