High-efficiency and reliable same-parent thermoelectric modules using Mg3Sb2-based compounds

Meng Jiang; Yuntian Fu; Qihao Zhang; Zhongliang Hu; Aibin Huang; Shuling Wang; Lianjun Wang; Wan Jiang

doi:10.1093/nsr/nwad095

High-efficiency and reliable same-parent thermoelectric modules using Mg₃Sb₂-based compounds

Natl Sci Rev. 2023 Apr 13;10(6):nwad095. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwad095. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Meng Jiang¹, Yuntian Fu¹, Qihao Zhang², Zhongliang Hu¹, Aibin Huang³, Shuling Wang¹, Lianjun Wang¹, Wan Jiang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials & College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
² Institute for Metallic Materials, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW Dresden), Dresden 01069, Germany.
³ State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China.
⁴ Institute of Functional Materials, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.

Abstract

Thermoelectric modules can convert waste heat directly into useful electricity, providing a clean and sustainable way to use fossil energy more efficiently. Mg₃Sb₂-based alloys have recently attracted considerable interest from the thermoelectric community due to their nontoxic nature, abundance of constituent elements and excellent mechanical and thermoelectric properties. However, robust modules based on Mg₃Sb₂ have progressed less rapidly. Here, we develop multiple-pair thermoelectric modules consisting of both n-type and p-type Mg₃Sb₂-based alloys. Thermoelectric legs based on the same parent fit into each other in terms of thermomechanical properties, facilitating module fabrication and ensuring low thermal stress. By adopting a suitable diffusion barrier layer and developing a new joining technique, an integrated all-Mg₃Sb₂-based module demonstrates a high efficiency of 7.5% at a temperature difference of 380 K, exceeding the state-of-the-art same-parent thermoelectric modules. Moreover, the efficiency remains stable during 150 thermal cycling shocks (∼225 h), demonstrating excellent module reliability.

Keywords: Mg3Sb2; low-temperature joining and high-temperature service; module reliability; power generation efficiency; same-parent thermoelectric modules.