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Due to the ability to directly convert thermal energy into electrical energy, thermoelectric devices operating in the medium-to-high temperature range hold significant potential for applications such as deep space exploration and industrial waste heat recovery. Among candidate materials, half-Heusler alloys have emerged as promising options for device fabrication in this temperature range, owing to their excellent mechanical properties, thermal stability, and favorable thermoelectric performance. However, research on half-Heusler-based thermoelectric devices remains far behind study of the materials, which limits their large-scale industrial application. In this study, high-performance P-type Hf0.5Zr0.5CoSb0.8Sn0.2 and N-type Hf0.75Zr0.25NiSn0.99Sb0.01 half-Heusler alloys are firstly synthesized. Then the single-pair thermoelectric module is successfully brazed and assembled by using the graphite mold designed by ourselves. After that, three-dimensional (3D) finite element modeling and one-dimensional (1D) numerical modeling are conducted to simulate the module behaviors, and their results are highly consistent with experimental measurements, thereby validating the accuracy of the simulation models. Using the established simulation models, the influence of geometric parameters on module performance is investigated. The result shows that optimizing the leg height and cross-sectional area ratio is critical for achieving maximum conversion efficiency. Additionally, a self-integrated comprehensive testing system (Model: TE-X-MS) is developed to systematically characterize key thermoelectric properties, including output power and conversion efficiency. The fabricated device achieves a maximum output power of 0.28 W and a peak conversion efficiency of 7.34% at a temperature difference of 538 K, which is comparable to the best-performing devices reported to date. These results provide valuable reference for fabricating, modeling, and characterizing the half-Heusler thermoelectric devices in practical applications.
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Keywords:
- half-Heusler alloy /
- thermoelectric generator /
- finite element simulation /
- numerical simulation
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图 1 (a) 半赫斯勒热电臂制作流程; (b) 合成材料的热电优值; (c) 单对半赫斯勒热电器件焊接流程
Figure 1. (a) Fabrication process of half-Heusler thermoelectric legs; (b) the ZT values of the synthesized materials; (c) the soldering process of the single-pair half-Heusler thermoelectric device.
图 2 (a) P型和(b) N型半赫斯勒热电材料XRD图谱
Figure 2. XRD patterns of (a) P-type and (b) N-type half-Heusler thermoelectric.
图 3 单对器件三维建模图
Figure 3. Schematic diagram of 3D modeling of single pair device.
图 4 三维仿真得到的单对半赫斯勒器件温度分布图(a)和电势分布图(b)
Figure 4. Temperature (a) and voltage (b) distribution diagram of single pair half-Heusler thermoelectric device obtained from 3D simulation.
图 6 自制热电器件综合性能测试系统
Figure 6. Self-made comprehensive performance testing system for thermoelectric devices.
图 7 热端温度分别为300 ℃, 400 ℃, 500 ℃, 600 ℃时单对器件在不同电流负载下的特性变化 (a) 电压; (b) 输出功率; (c) 转换效率. (d) 本文不同温差下的最大转换效率与其他文献中报道的半赫斯勒器件的最大效率的对比
Figure 7. Characteristic curves of a single pair of devices under different current loads when the hot end temperatures are 300 ℃, 400 ℃, 500 ℃ and 600 ℃ respectively: (a) Voltage; (b) output power; (c) conversion efficiency. (d) Comparison between the maximum conversion efficiency under different temperature differences in this work and other literatures.
图 5 随热电臂高度和P型N型热电臂面积比(AP/AN)变化而变化的单对器件(a) 转换效率和(b) 输出功率
Figure 5. Variation of conversion efficiency (a) and output power (b) of a single pair of devices with variation of thermoelectric arm height and P-type/N-type thermoelectric arm area ratio (AP/AN).
表 1 单对器件建模参数
Table 1. Single pair device’s modeling parameters.
参 数 数 值 陶瓷基板长度Ls/mm 8 陶瓷基板宽度Ws/mm 3 陶瓷基板厚度Ds/mm 0.6 覆铜层长度LCu/mm 7 覆铜层宽度WCu/mm 3 覆铜层厚度DCu/mm 0.3 P型热电臂宽度Wp/mm 2.1 P型热电臂高度Hp/mm 6 N型热电臂宽度Wn/mm 2 N型热电臂宽度Hn/mm 6 
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表 2 热电材料物性参数
Table 2. Physical parameters of thermoelectric materials.
参数 温度相关表达式 P型 S/(μV·K–1) –2.37478×10–13T3+2.00399×10–10T2+1.45119×10–7T+0.0000646145 σ/(S⋅cm–1) –6.40884×10–9T3+0.0000127913T2–0.00898933T+6.35472 κ/(W⋅m–1⋅K–1) –0.000461149T3+1.02189T2–825.929T+327500.0 N型 S/(μV⋅K–1) 2.37915×10–13T3–1.39249×10–10T2–2.14638×10–7T–0.0000648974 σ/(S⋅cm–1) –1.25489×10–8T3+0.0000285845T2–0.0223619T+10.403 κ/(W⋅m–1⋅K–1) 0.0000727835T3+0.0782446T2–271.589T+266246.0
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