Chapter 13

Thermoelectrics

Fredrick Kim

Fredrick Kim

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea

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Seungjun Choo

Seungjun Choo

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea

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Jae Sung Son

Jae Sung Son

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea

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First published: 08 February 2021
Citations: 1

Summary

World energy consumption has rapidly grown thanks to a robust global economy and increased heating and cooling demand in developing countries. Thermoelectric (TE) energy conversion can provide a unique solution to generate electricity from heat, more than 60% of which is dissipated to the environment from nature, industry, and transportation. Three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies can revolutionize several aspects of TE module manufacturing. This chapter reviews the recent progress in the development of 3D printing technologies for TE materials and devices. It discusses various processes of 3Dprinting—such as the extrusion-based process, fused deposition modeling, stereolithography apparatus, and selective laser sintering—available to synthesize and control the geometry of TE materials, including several examples of new types of TE power generators created with 3D printing technologies. The chapter presents an outlook of this field regarding the issues and solutions facing the commercialization of TE power generation technology.

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