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Low-temperature sintering of Ag nanoparticles for high-performance thermoelectric module design

Nature Energy volume 8, pages 665–674 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

To facilitate the development of thermoelectric modules for various operating temperature ranges, a connection technology that is suitable for heat-sensitive thermoelectric materials and capable of realizing both low-temperature connections and high-temperature service is required. Here we use low-temperature sintering of silver nanoparticles as an approach to connect the electrode and metallization layer of low- (Bi2Te3-based), medium- (PbTe-based) and high-temperature (half-Heusler-based) thermoelectric modules. Owing to the low melting point of Ag nanoparticles and the high stability in the sintered bulk, the processing temperature of the module is decoupled from the operating temperature, avoiding welding thermal stress. We demonstrate a conversion efficiency of ~11% at the temperature difference of 550 K for the PbTe-based module. Additionally, the module’s performance remains nearly unchanged throughout thermal cycling between hot-side temperatures of 593 and 793 K for 50 cycles. Our work accelerates the development of advanced modules for thermoelectric power generation.

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Fig. 1: Module welding temperature and thermoelectric conversion efficiency.
Fig. 2: Characterization of Ag NPs and corresponding sintered junctions.
Fig. 3: Characterization of the PbTe-based module connection layer.
Fig. 4: Performance of the PbTe-based module.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the article, its Supplementary Information and the Source data provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (KQTD20200820113045081). Q.Z. acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52172194 and 51971081), the Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of Guangdong Province of China (2020B1515020023) and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (RCJC20210609103733073). J.M. acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52101248), Shenzhen Fundamental Research Projects (JCYJ20210324132808020) and Shenzhen Stable Support Plan for Higher Education Institutions (GXWD20220818151757003).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Li Yin, Fan Yang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering and Institute of Materials Genome and Big Data, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, P. R. China

    Li Yin, Xin Bao, Wenhua Xue, Xinyu Wang, Jinxuan Cheng, Xingjun Liu, Jun Mao & Qian Zhang

  2. Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, P. R. China

    Fan Yang, Zhipeng Du, Hongjun Ji & Mingyu Li

  3. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, P. R. China

    Fan Yang, Zhipeng Du, Hongjun Ji, Jiehe Sui, Xingjun Liu, Jun Mao, Mingyu Li & Qian Zhang

  4. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China

    Wenhua Xue & Yumei Wang

  5. School of Science, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, P. R. China

    Feng Cao

  6. Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity at University of Houston (TcSUH), University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Zhifeng Ren

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Contributions

Q.Z., Z.R., J.M. and L.Y. designed this work. L.Y., X.W., J.C. and X.B. synthesized the samples and conducted the transport property measurements. F.Y. and Z.D. synthesized the Ag NP paste. L.Y. conducted the experimental study on sintered connection and characterization of the junctions. Y.W. and W.X. performed the TEM observations. L.Y. and X.B. conducted the experimental study on module fabrication and characterization. Q.Z., L.Y., Z.R., J.M., F.C., H.J., J.S., X.L. and M.L. discussed the results. L.Y., Q.Z., J.M. and Z.R. wrote this paper, and all authors edited it.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jun Mao, Mingyu Li, Zhifeng Ren or Qian Zhang.

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Nature Energy thanks Johannes de Boor, Michihiro Ohta and Qingyu Yan for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Yin, L., Yang, F., Bao, X. et al. Low-temperature sintering of Ag nanoparticles for high-performance thermoelectric module design. Nat Energy 8, 665–674 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01245-4

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