Enhancing Thermoelectric Effects
UT’s physicists have helped develop a new approach to enhancing thermoelectric materials, energy converters that can turn waste heat into electricity or electricity into cooling and heating.
Thermoelectric materials use heat to create electricity by one of two avenues. The Seebeck effect moves current from the hot side to the cold side of a material. The temperature difference generates electricity. The lesser-studied Nernst effect creates voltage in a transverse direction but requires an external magnetic field. While this complicates its possible uses, this effect intrigues researchers because its geometry provides greater efficiency.
In this study, Dongliang Gong, Junyi Yang, Shashi Pandey, Dapeng Cui, Yang Zhang, and Jian Liu* were part of the team that synthesized an antiferromagnetic oxide material that could generate transverse voltage without the need for an external magnetic field. This anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) is the largest among the known magnetic oxides because of the magnetically broken symmetry. This opens a path to looking at other materials with similar symmetry configuration as candidates for greater thermoelectric efficiency.
Read the full research highlight from Argonne National Laboratory, or the original paper in Nature Communications.
*Dongliang Gong is a former postdoctoral research associate.
Junyi Yang completed his PhD in 2022 and is now working at Argonne National Laboratory.
Shashi Pandey graduated with a PhD in 2024 and is currently a postdoc at the University of Michigan.
Dapeng Cui is a postdoctoral research associate.
Yang Zhang is an assistant professor of physics. Jian Liu is a professor of physics.