Advanced Thermoelectrics
Thermoelectricity is utilized in a wide variety of applications related to solid-state power generation and refrigeration, from local cooling of electronics to generation power for deep-space probes, to power generation from waste-heat. In order to efficiently convert energy using thermoelectricity certain material properties are desirable. These include a high electrical conductivity, σ, to maintain high charge current, a high Seebeck coefficient, S, to maintain a high voltage drop, and a low thermal conductivity, κ, to maintain the temperature gradient. The performance of thermoelectric devices is characterized by the figure of merit, a dimensionless parameter defined as ZT = (S2σT/κ), where T is the absolute temperature. Larger ZT values result in more efficient thermoelectric devices. There are no known fundamental limitations on how large ZT can be, and yet for the past several years the maximum ZT of materials currently used in commercial devices has been ~ 1 for all applicable temperature ranges. Over the past several years many new materials have been investigated for their use as thermoelectric materials. Despite the extensive research, there is still a need to investigate new classes of materials with unique physical properties that may result in superior thermoelectric properties.
This Special Topic Issue on Thermoelectric Materials provides a valuable forum where scientists and practitioners in the field will be able to share their most recent findings in order to advance the fundamental understanding of thermoelectric materials and phenomena and their device applications.
Topics covered include, but are not limited to:
- Bulk and Composite Thermoelectric Materials
- Theoretical Methods and Novel Concepts for Thermoelectricity
- Synthetic Strategies for Materials with Novel Properties, including Spark Plasma Sintering Techniques
- Organic and Polymer Thermoelectrics
- Modules Design, New and Emerging Technologies for Thermoelectric Power Conversion
- First Principles Methods and Other Approaches for Managing Heat due to Phonons
- Processing of Bulk and Thin Film Nanostructured Materials
- Materials Property Measurements and Measurement Techniques to Investigate Nnew Phenomena
- Machine-learning, Data-driven, and Large Scale Simulations Approaches for New Thermoelectric Materials
- Thermoelectrics Related to Harvesting Solar Energy and Thermal Energy Conversion
- Oxide and Novel Thermoelectrics
Guest Editors
Lilia M. Woods – University of South Florida
Ryoji Funahashi – National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology
George Nolas – University of South Florida
Submission and acceptance criteria:
Manuscripts considered for publication as Articles in Journal of Applied Physics are expected to meet the journal’s standards of acceptance, i.e. to report on original and timely results that significantly advance understanding in the current status of contemporary applied physics: material that is exclusively review in nature is not considered for publication. Manuscripts submitted for consideration in this Special Topic must meet the same criteria and will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process. The Journal of Applied Physics’ Editors’ Team will issue final decisions on the submitted manuscripts.
For Journal of Applied Physics’ editorial policies, please click here.