Degree Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2011
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Materials Science and Engineering
First Advisor
Zhiqun Lin
Abstract
Thermoelectric materials, in which a temperature difference creates an electric potential or an electric potential creates a temperature difference, are probably a key to solving global warming and energy shortage problems. There are three thermoelectric effects: the Seebeck effect (temperature to current), Peltier effect (current to temperature), and Thomson effect (conductor heating/cooling). However the efficiency of thermoelectric materials has been rather low for practical applications, including power generation and refrigeration as it requires an optimization of the combination of conflicting material characteristics (i.e., thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity). To date, efforts have been made to capitalize on nanotechnology to create novel semiconducting materials that could finally make thermoelectricity a widely used technology. In my research, I systematically synthesized bismuth (Bi) nanocrystals as one of very important thermoelectric materials by hydrothermal and star-like amphiphilic block copolymer nanoreactor approaches. The size of Bi nanoparticles prepared by employing star-like amphiphilic block copolymer templates was better controlled. The thermoelectric properties of Bi nanocrystals were improved when their crystalline sizes are smaller than 10nm.
Copyright Owner
Weijie Yu
Copyright Date
2011
Language
en
Date Available
2012-04-28
File Format
application/pdf
File Size
70 pages
Recommended Citation
Yu, Weijie, "Preparation of Thermoelectric Nanocrystals for Energy Applications" (2011). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 10432.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/10432
