TWA 38
Thermoelectric Materials
Current economic and environmental issues demand improvements in energy conversion technologies for efficient utilization of energy resources. Applications using thermoelectric materials, materials that interconvert thermal and electrical energy, have demonstrated potential for meeting these needs: waste heat recovery in automotive, aerospace, and industrial manufacturing applications, and solid-state refrigeration for consumer products and microelectronics. However, commercially available thermoelectric devices are only about 5 % efficient.
The TWA supports the collaborative development of certified reference materials and measurement methodologies that provide the underpinning measurement science needed to support the discovery, production, and reliability of materials and devices related to thermoelectric energy conversion applications. Comprehensive experimental studies that identify optimal protocols for the measurement of relevant transport properties at high temperature (e.g., the Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity) were recently completed. To provide the thermoelectric materials community the means to calibrate Seebeck coefficient measurement equipment for bulk materials, NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) certified and released for purchase in late 2011 SRM® 3451, "Low Temperature Seebeck Coefficient Standard (10 K to 390 K)". A complementary high temperature Seebeck coefficient SRM for the temperature regime (300 K to 900 K), the range most relevant to waste heat recovery, is now in development.
Future work will include pre-standardization needs for thermal property measurements at high temperature.
More information
Dr. Joshua Martin (joshua.martin@nist.gov)