Nanostructured Bismuth Telluride (Bi2Te3) for Thermoelectric Cooling

"Thermoelectric devices have a wide variety of applications in many different fields: solid state thermoelectric refrigerators are used to cool high power integrated circuits, superconducting devices, and infrared detectors, while thermoelectric powerconverters are utilized in waste heat energy conversion and deep space probes. The efficiency of current solid-state thermoelectric devices is primarily limited by the relatively low efficiency of the thermoelectric materials used to fabricate thesedevices. Nanocrystalline materials offer excellent opportunities for many technological advancement because of their enhanced thermal, electrical and mechanical properties. The objective of this project is to research the feasibility of fabricating athermoelectric device using nanocrystalline materials with high thermoelectric figure of merit. In Phase I, Materials Modification Inc. proposes to synthesis Bi2Te3 nanocomposite powders and consolidating them using plasma pressure compaction method. Anefficient thermoelectric cooling device for a specific application will be fabricated and tested. Several of the potential applications of thermoelectric devices using nanocrystalline Bi2Te3 materials are:Military/Aerospace: Inertial Guidance Systems, Night vision equipment, "smart" munitions, Electronic equipment cooling, cooled personnel garments, Parametric Amplifiers and portable refrigerators.Laboratory and Scientific Equipment Infrared detector