Apparatus for measurement of thermoelectric properties of a single leg under large temperature differences

Thermoelectric (TE) devices operate under large temperature differences, but material property measurements are typically accomplished under small temperature differences. Because of the issues associated with forming proper contact between the test sample and the electrodes and the control of heat flux, there are very few reports on large temperature difference measurements. Therefore, practically relevant performance parameters of a device, namely, power output and efficiency, are estimated by temperature averaging of material properties, whose accuracy is rarely validated by experimental investigations. To overcome these issues, we report an apparatus that has been designed and assembled to measure the TE properties-Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and power output and efficiency of a single thermoelectric material sample over large temperature gradients. The sample holder-a unique feature of this design-lowers the contact resistance between the sample and the electrodes, allowing for more accurate estimates of the sample's properties. Measurements were performed under constant temperature differences ranging from 50 to 300 K with the hot side reaching 673 K on a metallized Mg₂Si_0.3Sn_0.7 leg synthesized in the laboratory. To simulate practical operating conditions of a continuously loaded generator, continuous current flow measurements were also performed under large temperature differences. The temperature-averaged TE properties from standard low temperature difference measurements and the experimental TE properties agree with each other, indicating that the designed setup is reliable for measuring various thermoelectric generator properties of single TE legs when subjected to temperature gradients between 50 and 300 K.