A Novel Approach to Thermoelectric Material Fabrication Using Additive Manufacturing
Abstract
Recently there has been increased interest in developing thermoelectric materials with additive manufacturing (AM) techniques. Thermoelectric material scan capture waste heat and generate electricity. These materials have not seen widespread application for several reasons including: inefficient material properties, and fabrication difficulties. AM thermoelectric materials have demonstrated lower thermal conductivities, which can be a hallmark of a more efficient thermoelectric device. AM can also be used to create difficult geometries geometries unobtainable with standard fabrication techniques. The goal of this work was to develop and characterize an AM fabrication method capable of creating dimensionally accurate thermoelectric materials. N-type bismuth telluride (BiTe) was chosen as the base material due to availability and effectiveness as a room temperature thermoelectric. Initial methods of fabrication used a Form labs Form2 Printer and a doped resin. Image analysis was done to verify the doping percentage. However, thermoelectric characterization showed that these samples did not exhibit a Seebeck effect and were therefore not functional thermoelectric materials. Due to the printers limitations with doped resin, a method labeled bulk curing in plastic AM molds was devised. The maximum concentration achieved was 80wt BiTeSe. Once sintered, the samples exhibited a measurable thermoelectric effect. Mechanically the materials demonstrated non-homogeneous hardness characteristics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 16, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1171861
Entities
People
- James J. Potticary
Organizations
- United States Naval Academy