A novel approach to new generation of thermoelectric materials

Over the past 20 years there has been increasing pressure for the development of technologies to take advantage of renewable energy sources. This is a result of the environmental impacts and future availability of fossil fuels [1,2]. There has also been an emphasis on the recycling of waste energy (energy scavenging) to improve the efficiency of many industrial and commercial processes.
One source of renewable energy that shows potential in both of these is thermoelectric generation and as a result thermoelectric materials have become an area of great interest [3-5]. These materials are able to convert a temperature gradient into an electrical power output and are currently used in energy scavenging applications in such environments as furnaces and car exhausts.
Silicon nanostructures show much lower thermal conductivities as a result of a more efficient boundary scattering of phonons, which can lead to marked improvements to the figure of merit.
Improving energy efficiency is a global issue, and thermoelectrics will contribute their share to that. This project is to address this timely problem using a unique approach with the following objectives: (1) developing a new generation of thermoelectric materials with Silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) cross linked with conductive compounds; (2) to investigate the thermoelectric properties of novel nanostructures that consist of SiQDs including single SiQD (0D), thin films (2D), and bulk form (3D); (3) constructing thermoelectric module with cross linked SiQDs and investigating their thermoelectric properties. This project is to turn the cheapest semiconductor, silicon, to a potential climate saver, via unique nanotechnology only available in Chao’s lab. This project has potential impact upon both fundamental sciences and the environment. This is a truly multidisciplinary research project requiring knowledge of chemistry, physics, material sciences and engineering sciences.

Entry requirements: the standard minimum entry requirement is 2:1 in chemistry or physics