Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol.100, No.12, 5700-5708, 2017
Fabrication of a transversal multilayer thermoelectric generator with substituted calcium manganite
The sintering behavior and thermoelectric performance of Ca0.99Gd0.01Mn0.99W0.01O3 was studied, and a multilayer thermoelectric generator was fabricated. The addition of CuO as sintering additive was found to be effective for the reduction in the sintering temperature from 1300 degrees C to about 1000 degrees C-1050 degrees C. Dense samples were obtained after firing at 1050 degrees C, whereas some porosity remained after firing at 1000 degrees C. Samples sintered at reduced temperature exhibit lower electrical conductivity, whereas the Seebeck coefficient S=-150V/K at 100 degrees C is not affected by lowering the sintering temperature. The figure of merit is ZT=0.12 at 700 degrees C for samples sintered at 1300 degrees C; ZT=0.08 and 0.03 were obtained for multilayer laminates sintered at 1050 degrees C and 1000 degrees C, respectively. A transversal multilayer thermoelectric generator (TMLTEG) was built by stacking layers of substituted CaMnO3 green tapes, and printing AgPd conductor stripes onto the thermoelectric layers at an angle of 30 degrees relative to the direction of the heat flow. The multilayer stack was co-fired at 1000 degrees C. The TMLTEG has a power output of 2.5mW at T=200K in the temperature interval of 25 degrees C-300 degrees C. A meander-like generator with larger power output comprising six TMTEGs is also presented.