High thermoelectric power factor in Ni-Fe alloy for active cooling applications

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Solid State Physics
• Computational Materials Science

Background:

• Metallic thermoelectric materials are crucial for active cooling due to high thermal conductivity requirements.
• Metals typically have high thermal and electrical conductivities but low Seebeck coefficients, limiting their thermoelectric performance.
• Optimizing thermoelectric materials requires balancing high thermal conductivity with a significant Seebeck coefficient.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify binary metallic alloys with large Seebeck coefficients for active cooling applications.
• To leverage machine learning for discovering novel thermoelectric materials.
• To investigate nickel-iron (Ni-Fe) alloys as potential candidates for room-temperature cooling.

Main Methods:

• Creation of a comprehensive database of Seebeck coefficients for binary metallic alloys.
• Application of machine learning techniques to screen and identify promising alloy compositions.
• Fabrication of Ni-Fe alloy ingots for experimental validation.
• Measurement of thermoelectric power factor and effective thermal conductivity.

Main Results:

• Identification of Ni-Fe alloys as high-performance thermoelectric materials.
• Achieved thermoelectric power factor values up to 120 μW cm^-1 K^-2 at 200 K.
• Demonstrated effective thermal conductivity exceeding pure copper in the 250-400 K range.
• Utilized cost-effective and abundant elements for alloy synthesis.

Conclusions:

• Ni-Fe alloys show significant potential for active cooling applications.
• Machine learning effectively accelerates the discovery of advanced thermoelectric materials.
• These alloys offer a promising, cost-effective alternative to existing thermoelectric solutions.