Comparison of CaCoOx and BiCaCoOx Thermoelectric Materials

Ellena Gemmen* and Cesar Romo-De-La-Cruz, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Field (Broad Category): Engineering (Physical Sciences & Engineering)

Student’s Major: Mechanical Engineering 

Today’s electrical power generation is produced primarily via energy conversion technologies reliant upon fossil fuel resources which contribute greatly to carbon emissions. To add on top of these environmental effects, only ~34% of the power generated is actually used, the other 66% is lost as either energy loss or as waste heat. As an effort to resolve these issues, thermoelectric materials are used to regain this lost heat by converting it into useful electric energy. The use of thermoelectric materials for waste heat recovery has already been implemented in remote sensor applications, and has also been used in other applications, such as NASA’s New Horizons satellites, and in luxury cars for cooled seating. In order to optimize the efficiency of a thermoelectric material, it must have the highest conversion of heat energy to electric energy. In this work, thermoelectric materials CaCoOx and BiCaCoOx were manufactured and then tested using Linseis LSR-3 test unit and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to compare Resistivity, Absolute Seebeck Coefficient, Power Factor, surface structure, and grain structure to see which material is the optimal candidate for thermoelectric generators having the highest power output. 

Funding: 

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course a WVU 497-level course