journal article·2014-12-01Open access

Inhomogeneous thermal conductivity enhances thermoelectric cooling

Tingyu Lu, Jun Zhou, Nianbei Li, Ronggui Yang, Baowen Li

AIP Advances· Volume 4· Issue 12

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the enhancement of thermoelectric cooling performance in thermoelectric refrigerators made of materials with inhomogeneous thermal conductivity, beyond the usual practice of enhancing thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of materials. The dissipation of the Joule heat in such thermoelectric refrigerators is asymmetric which can give rise to better thermoelectric cooling performance. Although the thermoelectric figure of merit and the coefficient-of-performance are slightly enhanced, both the maximum cooling power and the maximum cooling temperature difference can be enhanced significantly. This finding can be used to increase the heat absorption at the cold end. We further find that the asymmetric dissipation of Joule heat leads to thermal rectification.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices · Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics · Thermal properties of materials

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Tongji University 1 Center for Phononics and Thermal Energy Science, School of Physics Science and Engineering, , Shanghai 200092, People’s Republic of China

University of Colorado 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering Program, , Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA

National University of Singapore 3 Department of Physics, Center for Computational Science and Engineering, and Graphene Research Center, , Singapore 117546, Republic of Singapore

National University of Singapore 4 NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, , Singapore 117456, Republic of Singapore

Funding

Program for Professor of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning · Shanghai Rising-Star Program · National Natural Science Foundation of China · Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University

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