Si-Based Thermoelectric Composite and Module Assembly

In accordance to “the elderly society” in the future, this project will look after the strength for seniorcitizen to be able to live relieved. Therefore, this project will propose a thermoelectric module for thewearable equipment to prolong the lifetime of battery per usage. Such a thermoelectric module to becarried during the monitoring is expected to scavenge thermal energy by the heat flow from human bodyto environment. Based on the consideration of cost, ecofriendly production, and mass production, Si-basedthermoelectric materials would be employed to for the expectation of figure of merit at 0.4 below 50 oC inthis project.In this project, we proposed the employment of Si, Mg2Si, Mg2(Si,Sn) and SiO2 nanopowders as thebuilding blocks for the composite thermoelectric materials. The topics includes the development of Sinanopowders; the design and mixing of the Mg2Si, Mg2(Si,Sn) and SiO2 nanopowders; spark plasmasintering and thermoelectric property measurement; theoretical analysis on the effect of the nanomaterialson the heat flow and charge transport; the design construction and assembly of the thermoelectric module;and its application for body heat scavenging at room temperature. By the research and development ofSi-bases thermoelectric powders, we will study its practical application at room temperature with thefabrication and measurement platform in our lab.The project will be conducted in three years through materials growth and design, materialscharacterization and identification, microelectronics and sintering processing, theoretical analysis,thermoelectric device measurement and module assembly. The potential incorporation as well as thecompatibility of thermoelectric nanocomposite in the wearable electronics to correlate with generalconditions would be demonstrated in this research project. The implement of the project can be helpful forthe industry and academia, as well as the graduate students, to realize the thermoelectric effects as thepromising aspect for the future.