Stephen R. Hostler

Thermal and electrical characterization of nanocomposites for thermoelectrics

Nanostructures have been shown theoretically, and to a certain extent experimentally, to exhibit enhanced thermoelectric properties. While the use of thermoelectric devices is not widespread today, even marginal improvements in performance could lead to a revolution in small-scale energy conversion and generation and heat removal applications. The potential integration of nanostructures into actual thermoelectric devices has not been fully realized since these devices generally require larger scale materials for the thermoelectric elements. Therefore, a focused investigation into thermal, electrical and thermoelectric characteristics of nanocomposites comprised of nanostructures that, in their bulk form, exhibit good thermoelectric characteristics, was conducted. The presented research explores the thermal and electrical properties of nanocomposites comprised of bismuth nanoparticles that were embedded in a conducting polymer matrix. The thermal and electrical conductivities as well as the thermopower of thin films of polyaniline (the conducting polymer) with different volume fractions of nanoparticles were measured. Results demonstrate that the thermal and electrical properties of polyaniline may be significantly influenced by the presence of the nanoparticles