Search results for "Efficient"
showing 10 items of 1603 documents
Finite element simulation of diffusion into polycrystalline materials
2008
Diffusion in polycrystalline materials is investigated by means of numerical finite element simulations for constant source conditions. The grain boundaries are assumed to provide fast diffusion paths. Main emphasis is put on situations that typically occur for nanocrystals, viz. on situations in which (i) the diffusion length is significant compared with grain size, (ii) the influence of boundaries that are parallel to the surface become important in addition to the perpendicular ones. Furthermore, we treat the influence of blocking space charge layers sandwiching the core pathways and thus channeling grain boundary diffusion.
Tuning the carrier concentration for thermoelectrical application in the quaternary Heusler compound Co2TiAl(1−x)Six
2010
The family of half-metallic ferromagnets Co2TiZ exhibits exceptional transport properties. The investigated compounds Co2TiAl(1−x)Six (x = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75) show Curie temperatures (TCs) that vary between 250 and 350 K, depending on the composition. Above TC the Seebeck coefficient remains constant. This makes them promising candidates for thermoelectric devices such as thermocouples with a tunable working range. The electrical resistivity data show an anomaly at TC which is attributed to changes in the electronic structure and therefore in the carrier concentration.
Phonon contribution to the absorption of ultrasound in amorphous solids at moderately low temperatures
1998
Abstract Sound absorbtion in amorphous solids is considered to be due to the scattering of sound waves from the thermal phonons. It is shown that the dependence of the absorption coefficient on the temperature displays a maximum in the interval 10≲T≲100 K . The frequency dependence of the absorption coefficient is investigated. Numerical calculations for amorphous Mg and Zn illustrate the theoretical results.
Structural Principles and Thermoelectric Properties of Polytypic Group 14 Clathrate-II Frameworks
2013
We have investigated the structural principles and thermoelectric properties of polytypic group 14 clathrate-II frameworks using quantum chemical methods. The experimentally known cubic 3C polytype was found to be the energetically most favorable framework, but the studied hexagonal polytypes (2 H, 4 H, 6 H, 8 H, 10 H) lie energetically close to it. In the case of germanium, the energy difference between the 3C and 6H clathrate-II polytypes is ten times smaller than the difference between the experimentally known 3C-Ge (α-Ge) and 4H-Ge polytypes. The thermoelectric properties of guest-occupied clathrate-II structures were investigated for compositions Na-Rb-Ga-Ge and Ge-As-I. The clathrate-…
PEDOT thin films with n-type thermopower
2019
peer-reviewed Synthesis of n-type organic semiconductors is challenging as reduced states are difficult to obtain due to their instability in air. Here, we report tailoring of semiconducting behavior through control of surfactant concentration during synthesis of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanoparticles. Nanoparticles were synthesized by mini-emulsion polymerization, where stable suspensions were used to produce polymer films by a simple casting technique on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates. Electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficients were measured as a function of surfactant concentration. It was found that conductivity decreases three orders of magnitude as s…
Estimation of solar-induced vegetation fluorescence from space measurements
2007
[1] A characteristic spectral emission is observed in vegetation chlorophyll under excitation by solar radiation. This emission, known as solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence, occurs in the red and near infra-red spectral regions. In this paper a new methodology for the estimation of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence from spaceborne and airborne sensors is presented. The fluorescence signal is included in an atmospheric radiative transfer scheme so that chlorophyll fluorescence and surface reflectance are retrieved consistently from the measured at-sensor radiance. This methodology is tested on images acquired by the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) on board the ENVIron…
Effects of Pressure, Temperature, and Particles Size on O2 Diffusion Dynamics in Silica Nanoparticles
2013
The O2 diffusion process in silica nanoparticles is experimentally studied in samples of average radius of primary particles ranging from 3.5 to 20 nm and specific surface ranging from 50 to 380 (m2/g). The investigation is done in the temperature range from 98 to 177 °C at O2 pressure ranging from 0.2 to 66 bar by measuring the interstitial O2 concentration by Raman and photoluminescence techniques. The kinetics of diffusion can be described by the Fick’s equation with an effective diffusion coefficient depending on the temperature, O2 pressure, and particles size. In particular, the dependence of the diffusion coefficient on the pressure and nanoparticles size is more pronounced at lower …
Optimization of the carrier concentration in phase-separated half-Heusler compounds
2014
Inspired by the promising thermoelectric properties of phase-separated half-Heusler materials, we investigated the influence of electron doping in the n-type Ti_(0.3−x)Zr_(0.35)Hf_(0.35)NiSn compound. The addition of Nb to this compound led to a significant increase in its electrical conductivity, and shifted the maximum Seebeck coefficient to higher temperatures owing to the suppression of intrinsic carriers. This resulted in an enhancement of both the power factor α^2σ and figure of merit, zT. The applicability of an average effective mass model revealed the optimized electron properties for samples containing Nb. There is evidence in the literature that the average effective mass model i…
Thermoeletric Heusler Compounds
2015
Thermoelectric converters for power generation aim at reducing CO\(_2\) emission via the conversion of a part of the low-grade waste heat generated by engines, industrial furnaces, gas pipes, etc. to electricity. The recovery of waste heat from the exhaust of an automotive engine, in particular, is an attractive, albeit not very efficient way for reduction of fuel consumption. Thermoelectric converters with high overall efficiency convert heat directly into electricity without moving parts and, thus, not only decrease our reliance on fossil fuels but also actively counteract global warming. State-of-the-art converters are simply too inefficient to be economic, partly due to expensive elemen…
Efficient Gas Separation and Transport Mechanism in Rare Hemilabile Metal–Organic Framework
2019
Understanding/visualizing the established interactions between gases and adsorbents is mandatory to implement better performance materials in adsorption/separation processes. Here we report the unique behavior of a rare example of a hemilabile chiral three-dimensional metal–organic framework (MOF) with an unprecedented qtz-e-type topology, with formula CuII2(S,S)-hismox·5H2O (1) (hismox = bis[(S)-histidine]oxalyl diamide). 1 exhibits a continuous and reversible breathing behavior, based on the hemilability of carboxylate groups from l-histidine. In situ powder (PXRD) and single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) using synchrotron radiation allowed us to unveil the crystal structures of four …