Bottom-up Engineering for Thermoelectric Applications

Thermoelectrics technology, which enables the direct conversion between waste heat and electricity, can play an important role in sustainable energy management. To enable thermoelectric technology deployment across a wide market range, low-cost and environmentally friendly materials with significantly improved performance need to be designed and engineered. In this project, we propose the synthesis of polycrystalline Sn chalcogenides nanomaterials through the bottom-up assembly of solution-processed nanoparticles (NPs). This strategy overcomes the disadvantages of the single crystal growth method, while also allowing more control and flexibility over structural and chemical parameters at multiple length scales. More precisely, this methodology can provide precise control over the starting NPs (size, shape, composition, etc.), exquisite surface/interface engineering, accurate composition and phase control, and multiple possibilities for NP assembly or consolidation. Ultimately, we expect to produce low-cost Sn chalcogenide thermoelectric materials with performance beyond the current state-of-the-art values by enabling the unique potential of NP building blocks.

Thermoelectrics technology, which enables the direct conversion between waste heat and electricity, can play an important role in sustainable energy management. To enable thermoelectric technology deployment across a wide market range, low-cost and environmentally friendly materials with significantly improved performance need to be designed and engineered. In this project, we proposed the synthesis of polycrystalline Sn chalcogenides nanomaterials through the bottom-up assembly of solution-processed nanoparticles (NPs). This strategy overcomes the disadvantages of the single crystal growth method, while also allowing more control and flexibility over structural and chemical parameters at multiple length scales. More precisely, this methodology can provide precise control over the starting NPs (size, shape, composition, etc.), exquisite surface/interface engineering, accurate composition and phase control, and multiple possibilities for NP assembly or consolidation. Ultimately, we expect to produce low-cost Sn chalcogenide thermoelectric materials with performance beyond the current state-of-the-art values by enabling the unique potential of NP building blocks.