General Physics Colloquium

Title: 'Thermoelectric Energy Conversion'

Speaker: Bo Brummerstedt Iversen, Center for Materials Crystallography, Department of Chemistry & iNANO, Aarhus University

Abstract:

Thermoelectric effects have been known for almost two hundred years, but they are still at the forefront of materials research and solid state physics. The reason is that it remains a fundamental challenge to optimize opposing contributions to the thermoelectric figure of merit, zT = TS²s/k, where T is absolute temperature, S is the thermopower, s is the electrical conductivity and k is the thermal conductivity. For the past 15 years we have studied a wide range of thermoelectric materials including chalcogenides, antimonides, clathrates, skutterudites, silicides and more [1]. In this talk I will exemplify some of the main ideas for increasing the power factor (S²s) and lowering the thermal conductivity in materials, and then focus on recent research on the Zn-Sb system.

[1] B. B. Iversen, “Phonon Glass Electron Crystal materials for thermoelectric energy conversion”, Thesis for the Doctor of Technology Degree, Technical University of Denmark, 2010

Wine and cheese will be served at 4 PM