RUNNING HEAD: THERMOELECTRICS 1

Hahnbee Lee

December 19, 2017

Thermoelectrics

Proposal
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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr. Psaker and The Governor’s School for providing me the time, money,

resources, and aid I need to execute this project. I would also like to thank Dr. Patanarut for

aiding me with the chemistry components of my project.

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Abstract

A power plant’s process of converting energy has an efficiency of 45% (U.S. Energy

Information Administration) and majority of the waste is found through heat loss. Additionally,

in a world where fossil fuels are gradually becoming less and less available, it is important that

we find alternatives for energy. A great way to amend both of these cases is to increase

efficiency in thermoelectric devices which uses heat gradients to create a current. However,

thermoelectric devices also have a low efficiency of approximately 10% and an increase in

efficiency will be drastically helpful in harvesting heat energy.

Researchers at Northwestern discovered a characteristic of Vanadium Dioxide which

states that it has high electricity conductivity and low heat conductivity. By using this newly

found research, I plan on creating a Vanadium Dioxide wire by using the electroplating process

and applying it into a component of a thermoelectric device: a thermocouple. After the vanadium

dioxide wire is successfully electroplated I plan on conducting experiments on multiple different

wire pairings for thermocouples and examining the efficiency of the different pairings. I

hypothesis that the vanadium dioxide wire will have the highest efficiency and best seebeck

coefficient.
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Thermoelectrics

The disadvantage of burning fossil fuels for energy along with the gradual increase in

dependence on these nonrenewable resources are growing problems that are becoming more and

more prevalent in our world and its environment. Not only are fossil fuels bad for the

environment, but third world countries do not have access to the energy that they desire to have.

Additionally, what makes the problem worse is that in first world countries like America, we

produce 100 quads of primary energy and 60 quads of waste energy annually which means that

60% of our energy used is wasted. Most of the energy waste is derived from transportation,

power generation, industrial and solid waste. The main ones being power generation and

transportation waste.

Power plants operate at 33 percent fuel efficiency, a lot of waste is found lost in heat

through cooling towers, rivers and streams resulting in 26.4 quads of energy being lost in smoke.

The US transportation sector uses 28.6 quads of fuel per year and about 30 percent of this energy

(20 quads) is wasted through exhaust pipes. (Casten) In conclusion, energy is a huge issue that

not only hurts the environment, but is readily being wasted by countries like America. Which is

why renewable green solutions to these issues need to start up on their feet up and running. What

my experiment proposes is a more efficient way to use heat gradients and thermoelectric energy

to save the wasted energy through heat exhaust. Whether its application is through the heat lost

through cars or the heat or air conditioning lost in homes, this year my project’s goal is to save

heat energy and use the temperature gradient created by the lost heat to a more efficient use and

create a voltage and take use that power to power other things more efficiently.

In January of 2017, researchers at Northwestern have discovered a new characteristic of a

metal, Vanadium Dioxide. This new characteristic that they found is that under certain
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temperatures Vanadium Dioxide defies the Wiedemann-Franz Law which states that good

conductors of electricity are also good conductors of heat. Vanadium Dioxide has the perfect

conditions of a metal to work as a very efficient n-type conductor in a thermocouple of a

thermoelectric device. The usage of Vanadium Dioxide will increase the efficiency of

thermoelectric devices and hopefully allow them to be more widely used and applicable as a real

world solution in order for us to live in a greener world.

How Thermoelectrics Work

For the majority of the past two weeks I have conducted research regarding the physics and

chemistry of thermoelectronics. Thermoelectric devices exist because of two different effects:

the Seebeck effect and the Peltier effect. A Peltier tile is made up of two main components. A P-

type semiconductor and an N-type semiconductor are connected in series. A semiconductor, such

as silicon or germanium elements, with atomic impurities is either a p-type or a n-type

semiconductor and the type of atomic impurity present determines the type of the semiconductor.

In a pure Si or Ge semiconductor, each nucleus uses its four valence electrons to form four

covalent bonds with its neighbors (Figure 1). Each ionic core has a net charge of +4 and is

surrounded by 4 valence electrons. Since there are no excess electrons or holes, the number of

electrons and holes present at any given time will always be equal.
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Figure 1 A pure semiconductor Note each +4 ion is surrounded by four electrons.

Now, if one of the atoms in the semiconductor lattice is replaced by an element with three valence

electrons, such as a Group 3 element like Boron (B), Arsenic, or Gallium (Ga), the electron-hole

balance will be changed. This impurity will only be able to contribute three valence electrons to

the lattice, therefore leaving one excess hole (Figure 2). Since holes will "accept" free electrons, a

Group 3 impurity is also called an acceptor.

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Figure 2 An impure P-type lattice structure of a semiconductor.

Because an acceptor donates excess holes, which are considered to be positively charged, a

semiconductor that has been doped with an acceptor is called a p-type semiconductor; "p" stands

for positive. Notice that the material as a whole remains electrically neutral. In a p-type

semiconductor, current is largely carried by the holes, which outnumber the free electrons. In this

case, the holes are the majority carriers, while the electrons are the minority carriers.

The same thought process applies to the N-type semiconductor except the intrinsic lattice

is doped with an element from Group 5 (arsenic or phosphorus), the addition of an atom with five

valence electrons causes an excess of electrons in the lattice and this element is called a donor

because it gives another electron to the lattice system.

The application of heat to either a p-type or a n-type semiconductor causes a polarization

of the material due to the movement of the “holes” and electrons respectively. If heat is applied to

an n-type semiconductor the electrons move to the opposite end of the material and if heat is

applied to a p-type semiconductor the “holes” move which causes a northern positive end and
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southern negative end for the n-type semiconductor and a northern negative end and a southern

positive end for the p-type semiconductor. Thus if p-type and n-type semiconductors are connected

in parallel to each other an electron current will be formed across the array of varying type

semiconductors (Figure 3).

Figure 3 P-type and N-type semiconductors connected electrically in series creates a

thermoelectric device.

Thus, we can conclude that a p-type and n-type semiconductor connected in series with

an applied temperature gradient will create a current - this concept is called the Seebeck effect.

The opposite – when electrons are allowed to flow through a p-type and n-type semiconductor in

series – is called the Peltier effect.

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Question

Can I increase the efficiency of a thermoelectric device by using Vanadium Dioxide as the n-

type semiconductor in a thermocouple?

Hypothesis

If I can use Vanadium Dioxide as the n-type semiconductor in a thermocouple, efficiency of

thermoelectric devices will increase.

Null Hypothesis

Efficiency in a thermoelectric device will not increase when I use Vanadium Dioxide as the n-

type semiconductor in a thermocouple.

Alternative Hypothesis

Thermoelectrics will increase the efficiency by making use of heat lost.

Engineering Goals

Increasing the efficiency of thermoelectric devices

Possibly creating a cheap thermoelectric device

Expected Outcomes

An increase in efficiency of a typical thermoelectric generator or a significant decrease in the

input of energy.
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Materials and Methods

Although it is optimal to use a semi-conductor because it has freely moving electrons and

holes and simultaneously has insulating properties which will aid in creating a heat gradient, a

complete conductor can be used instead of an n-type semiconductor. Therefore, in order to

originally test different materials and how a thermoelectric cell works I will start off by

connecting aluminum, copper, etc. (normal wire material) to a p-type semiconductor to see

which combination creates the largest voltage difference. I will also purchase a pre-made peltier

tile and observe the difference.

More research will need to be done on the different characteristics of different metals –

such as what makes a good fit or has optimal characteristics for a thermoelectric cell. And then

after more of that research is conducted I will need to look into the feasibility and advantages of

using Vanadium dioxide in comparison to any other metal and how feasible it would be to buy

and create a wire with that element.

If I find out that this is not feasible then I will take the route of creating an application

system of thermoelectrics to apply to a car. I will just purchase peltier tiles and create a

commercialized product that can be applied to cars that will save electricity.
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Data and Results

No data or results were found yet; however, I plan on measuring efficiency and

temperature gradients and different measurements of the effectiveness of the peltier effect on

contrasting metals. I will purchase other metals that are typically used in thermoelectric devices

such as aluminum and copper. I will attach them to a dissimilar inductive wires and apply a

temperature difference to the joint. I will measure, compare and collect data on the efficiency of

the work put into the device and current and work created that comes out of the device.

Additionally, for more numerical data I will find the Seebeck coefficient for the differing

materials and I will also find the efficiency of the different thermocouples that I will make and

compare.
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References

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2017, from http://grist.org/article/2009-09-11-how-much-energy-does-the-us-waste/

Garnero, E.J., Mcnamara, A.K., & Shim. S. (2016). Continent-sized anomalous zones with low

seismic velocity at the base of Earth’s mantle. Nature Geoscience, 9(7), 481-489.

Doi:10.1038/ngeo2733

Iafolla, V., Nozzoli, S., & Fiorenza, E. (2003). One axis gravity gradiometer for the

measurement of Newtons gravitational constant G. Physics Letters A, 318 (3), 223-233.

doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2003.07.014

Liu, H., & Pike, W. T. (2016). A micromachined angular-acceleration sensor for geophysical

applications. Applied Physics Letters,109 (17), 173506. doi:10.1063/1.4966547

U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis. (n.d.).

Retrieved December 19, 2017, from https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=107&t=3

Yang, S. (2017, January 26). For This Metal, Electricity Flows, But Not the Heat | Berkeley Lab.

Retrieved October 26, 2017, from http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2017/01/26/electricity-not-

heat-flows-in-vanadium-dioxide/