Sang Hyun Park, Yeong Seon Kim, Chung-Yul Yoo, Hana Yoonand Yong-Seog Seo
Korea Institute of Energy Research, Chung-nam, South Korea
Keywords: high temperature thermoelectric, skutterudite, power density
Annually updating record high ZT results of high temperature thermoelectric material reached to 2.6 (at 923K) with single-crystalline SnSe [1]. This new material innovations widely opened the possibility of developing highly efficient novel thermoelectric devices and related systems. One of the benefits utilizing this high temperature thermoelectric power generation is their high power density characteristics which can be essential for outdoor based military operational applications. From the unmanned air viehicle (UAV) applications to personal emergent stand-alone power sources, this high power density capability of thermoelectric technology can be very useful. Recent power density results of leading thermoelectric device development groups reached around 1.2~ 1.3 W/cm2. In this work, skutterudite (SKD) thermoelectric device with high power density performance will be demonstrated. The detailed device interfacial characteristics between SKD material and metallic electrodes will be discussed in detail. Furthermore, simulated devices characteristics based on the metallization results and the possibilities of developing ultra high power density(> 2W/cm2) poly-crystalline SKD thermoelectric modules will be discussed.