Hybrid thermionic-photovoltaic converter with graphene-on-semiconductor heterojunction anode for efficient...

Thermionic energy converters are solid-state heat engines to produce electricity with significant potential, whereas the output voltage is constrained by the work function difference between cathode and anode. In this work, we originally apply a graphene-on-semiconductor heterojunction anode to a thermionic-photovoltaic (TIPV) converter to output additional voltage. Thermionic electrons are injected into the graphene layer and then recombined with photogenerated holes. Photogenerated electrons are extracted from the conduction band and reinjected into the cathode through an external load. A proof-of-concept demonstration of the TIPV converter is developed with barium surface-engineered cathode and anode. Open-circuit voltage is increased from ∼0.9 to ∼1.9 V by comparing with an identical configuration without graphene layer. The TIPV converter yields a power generation density of 2.7 kW/m² with an electronic efficiency of ∼27%. This work paves the way for the development of TIPV converter toward high power density.