Theoretical Power Output of Thermoelectric Power Generator based on Metal Oxide Semiconductor

Abstract

Optimizing the structure and material combination of thermoelectric power generators (TEGs) is essential to their efficiency. In order to develop an efficient TEG based on an oxidesemiconductor, we theoretically simulated the power output of a TEG based on potential oxidesemiconductors (ZnO, TiO2, and CuO) combined with electrode materials (Au, Ag, Cu, graphene,graphite, ITO, IZO, and AZO), and determined the influence of this material combination on the TEG’spower output. In this study, the power output was evaluated from simulated heat distribution andoutput voltage of a single leg and thermopiles using a simulator. The combination of ZnO andgraphene showed the highest power output. This is likely due to the high thermal conductivity ofgraphene which allowed a high temperature difference in the ZnO. Moreover, the power outputincreased with decreasing electrode thickness, which allowed high output voltage to be generatedby the thermoelectric material. The power density of the TEG consisting of several thermopilesbased on ZnO and graphene materials was 29 mW/cm2, which was comparable with that of thereported TEG consisting of Te-based materials. Thus, a TEG based on oxide semiconductor materialscould be developed to reduce the use of harmful thermoelectric materials