Preparation, characterization and finite element computation of Cu(Al 1/2Fe1/2)O2 Delafossite-oxide themoelectric generator module

Abstract

The CuAl1/2Fe1/2O2 delafossite oxide has been synthesized by solid state reaction method for studying thermoelectric properties and measuring thermoelectric generator output electric power. The Finite Element technique was used to compute the output voltage of thermoelectric generator in applying temperature difference on a single bar and a module model with compared to the measurement results. The measurement results of positive sign Seebeck coefficient confirm the p-type conductor of the sample. The properties of Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity are range from 260 to 310V/K, from 7 to16 S/cm and from 2.5 to 3.5 W/cm-K,respectively, in the temperature range of 300 to 960 K. The output voltage of the single bar in dimension 4.2 × 2.5 × 20 mm 3 obtained 0.5 to 3 mV on applying temperature difference from 1 to 10 K closely to the Finite Element result. The computing results of the thermoelectric single bar and module in high temperature reveal the output electric voltage of CuAl1/2Fe1/2O2 oxide raises with the temperature and the number of thermoelectric leg increase. In important results, the high value of electric voltage is obtained 0.2 and 0.4 V for the single bar and the module at 950 K. © 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.