1202.5252 (Paul M. Haney)

Theory of ZT enhancement in nanocomposite materials    [PDF]

Paul M. Haney

The effect of interface scattering on the performance of disordered,
nanocomposite thermoelectric materials is studied theoretically using effective
medium theory and direct numerics. The interfacial electronic and phonon
scattering properties which lead to an enhancement of the thermoelectric figure
of merit $ZT$ are described. Generally, $ZT$ enhancement requires the
interfacial electrical conductance to be within a range of values, and the
thermal phonon conductance to be below a critical value. For the systems
considered, these requirements on interface scattering for $ZT$ enhancement are
expressed in terms of the bulk properties of the high-$ZT$ material, and the
ratio of the constituent bulk $Z$ values.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.5252