Daryoosh Vashaee

High-thermoelectric performance of nanostructured bismuth antimony telluride bulk alloys.

The dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) in bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) bulk alloys has remained around 1 for more than 50 years. We show that a peak ZT of 1.4 at 100°C can be achieved in a p-type nanocrystalline BiSbTe bulk alloy. These nanocrystalline bulk materials were made by hot pressing nanopowders that were ball-milled from crystalline ingots under inert conditions. Electrical transport measurements, coupled with microstructure studies and modeling, show that the ZT improvement is the result of low thermal conductivity caused by the increased phonon scattering by grain boundaries and defects. More importantly, ZT is about 1.2 at room temperature and 0.8 at 250°C, which makes these materials useful for cooling and power generation. Cooling devices that use these materials have produced high-temperature differences of 86°, 106°, and 119°C with hot-side temperatures set at 50°, 100°, and 150°C, respectively. This discovery sets the stage for use of a new nanocomposite approach in developing high-performance low-cost bulk thermoelectric materials.

Thermoelectric power factor in semiconductors with buried epitaxial semimetallic nanoparticles

We have grown composite epitaxial materials that consist of semimetallic ErAs nanoparticles embedded in a semiconducting In0.53Ga0.47As matrix both as superlattices and randomly distributed throughout the matrix. The presence of these particles increases the free electron concentration in the material while providing scattering centers for phonons. We measure electron concentration, mobility, and Seebeck coefficient of these materials and discuss their potential for use in thermoelectric power generators.We have grown composite epitaxial materials that consist of semimetallic ErAs nanoparticles embedded in a semiconducting In0.53Ga0.47As matrix both as superlattices and randomly distributed throughout the matrix. The presence of these particles increases the free electron concentration in the material while providing scattering centers for phonons. We measure electron concentration, mobility, and Seebeck coefficient of these materials and discuss their potential for use in thermoelectric power generators.

Electronic and thermoelectric transport in semiconductor and metallic superlattices

A detailed theory of nonisothermal electron transport perpendicular to multilayer superlattice structures is presented. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics and the cooling power density are calculated using Fermi–Dirac statistics, density-of-states for a finite quantum well and the quantum mechanical reflection coefficient. The resulting equations are valid in a wide range of temperatures and electric fields. It is shown that conservation of lateral momentum plays an important role in the device characteristics. If the lateral momentum of the hot electrons is conserved in the thermionic emission process, only carriers with sufficiently large kinetic energy perpendicular to the barrier can pass over it and cool the emitter junction. However, if there is no conservation of lateral momentum, the number of electrons participating in a thermionic emission will increase. This has a significant effect on the I–V measurements as well as the cooling characteristics. Theoretical calculations are compared with...

Effects of nanoscale porosity on thermoelectric properties of SiGe

The recent achievement of the high thermoelectric figure of merit in nanograined materials is attributed to the successful optimization of the consolidation process. Despite a thermal conductivity reduction, it has been experimentally observed that the porous nanograined materials have lower thermoelectric figure of merit than their bulk counterpart due to significant reduction in the electrical conductivity. In this paper, nanoscale porosity effects on electron and phonon transport are modeled to predict and explain thermoelectric properties in porous nanograined materials. Electron scattering at the pores is treated quantum mechanically while phonon transport is treated using a classical picture. The modeling results show that the charge carriers are scattered more severely in nanograined materials than the macroscale porous materials, due to a higher number density of scattering sites. Porous nanograined materials have enhanced Seebeck coefficient due to energy filtering effect and low thermal conducti...

Cross-plane lattice and electronic thermal conductivities of ErAs:InGaAs/InGaAlAs superlattices

We studied the cross-plane lattice and electronic thermal conductivities of superlattices made of InGaAlAs and InGaAs films, with the latter containing embedded ErAs nanoparticles (denoted as ErAs:InGaAs). Measurements of total thermal conductivity at four doping levels and a theoretical analysis were used to estimate the cross-plane electronic thermal conductivity of the superlattices. The results show that the lattice and electronic thermal conductivities have marginal dependence on doping levels. This suggests that there is lateral conservation of electronic momentum during thermionic emission in the superlattices, which limits the fraction of available electrons for thermionic emission, thereby affecting the performance of thermoelectric devices.

3D conductive nanocomposite scaffold for bone tissue engineering

Bone healing can be significantly expedited by applying electrical stimuli in the injured region. Therefore, a three-dimensional (3D) ceramic conductive tissue engineering scaffold for large bone defects that can locally deliver the electrical stimuli is highly desired. In the present study, 3D conductive scaffolds were prepared by employing a biocompatible conductive polymer, ie, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(4-styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), in the optimized nanocomposite of gelatin and bioactive glass. For in vitro analysis, adult human mesenchymal stem cells were seeded in the scaffolds. Material characterizations using hydrogen-1 nuclear magnetic resonance, in vitro degradation, as well as thermal and mechanical analysis showed that incorporation of PEDOT:PSS increased the physiochemical stability of the composite, resulting in improved mechanical properties and biodegradation resistance. The outcomes indicate that PEDOT:PSS and polypeptide chains have close interaction, most likely by forming salt bridges between arginine side chains and sulfonate groups. The morphology of the scaffolds and cultured human mesenchymal stem cells were observed and analyzed via scanning electron microscope, micro-computed tomography, and confocal fluorescent microscope. Increasing the concentration of the conductive polymer in the scaffold enhanced the cell viability, indicating the improved microstructure of the scaffolds or boosted electrical signaling among cells. These results show that these conductive scaffolds are not only structurally more favorable for bone tissue engineering, but also can be a step forward in combining the tissue engineering techniques with the method of enhancing the bone healing by electrical stimuli.

Long-range interlayer alignment of intralayer domains in stacked lipid bilayers.

Liquid-crystalline phases of stacked lipid bilayers represent a pervasive motif in biomolecular assemblies. Here we report that, in addition to the usual smectic order, multicomponent multilayer membranes can exhibit columnar order arising from the coupling of two-dimensional intralayer phase separation and interlayer smectic ordering. This coupling propagates across hundreds of membrane lamellae, producing long-range alignment of phase-separated domains. Quantitative analysis of real-time dynamical experiments reveals that there is an interplay between intralayer domain growth and interlayer coupling, suggesting the existence of cooperative multilayer epitaxy. We postulate that such long-range epitaxy is solvent-assisted, and that it originates from the surface tension associated with differences in the network of hydrogen-bonded water molecules at the hydrated interfaces between the domains and the surrounding phase. Our findings might inspire the development of self-assembly-based strategies for the long-range alignment of functional lipid domains.

The effect of crystallite size on thermoelectric properties of bulk nanostructured magnesium silicide (Mg2Si) compounds

In nanostructured bulk materials, the additional interfaces in the material enhance phonon scattering and reduce the thermal conductivity. However, interfaces also scatter electrons and deteriorate charge carrier transport. In order to benefit from the interfacial effects, the crystallite size in the material must be small compared with phonon mean free path (PMFP) and large compared with the charge carrier mean free path (CMFP). In this paper, we solve the Boltzmann transport equation for charge carriers and phonons. We show that bulk nanostructuring of Mg2Si is not an efficient method to enhance the figure-of-merit as the PMFP and CMFP are in the same range.

In vitro study of nanostructured diopside coating on Mg alloy orthopedic implants

The high corrosion rate of Mg alloys has hindered their application in various areas, particularly for orthopedic applications. In order to decrease the corrosion rate and to improve the bioactivity, mechanical stability and cytocompatibility of the Mg alloy, nanostructured diopside (CaMgSi2O6) has been coated on AZ91 Mg alloy using a combined micro arc oxidation (MAO) and electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method. The crystalline structure, the morphology and the composition of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Electrochemical corrosion test, immersion test, and compression test were used to evaluate the corrosion resistance, the in vitro bioactivity and the mechanical stability of the samples, respectively. The cytocompatibility of the samples was tested by the cell viability and the cell attachment of L-929 cells. The results confirmed that the diopside coating not only slows down the corrosion rate, but also enhances the in vitro bioactivity, mechanical stability and cytocompatibility of AZ91 Mg alloy. Therefore, Mg alloy coated with nanostructured diopside offers a promising approach for biodegradable bone implants.

Multilayer bioactive glass/zirconium titanate thin films in bone tissue engineering and regenerative dentistry

Surface modification, particularly coatings deposition, is beneficial to tissue-engineering applications. In this work, bioactive glass/zirconium titanate composite thin films were prepared by a sol-gel spin-coating method. The surface features of the coatings were studied by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and spectroscopic reflection analyses. The results show that uniform and sound multilayer thin films were successfully prepared through the optimization of the process variables and the application of carboxymethyl cellulose as a dispersing agent. Also, it was found that the thickness and roughness of the multilayer coatings increase nonlinearly with increasing the number of the layers. This new class of nanocomposite coatings, comprising the bioactive and inert components, is expected not only to enhance bioactivity and biocompatibility, but also to protect the surface of metallic implants against wear and corrosion.