Achieving Reliable CoSb_(3) based thermoelectric joints with low contact resistivity using a high-entropy alloy diffusion barrier layer

Skutterudite(SKD)thermoelectric materials have high conversion efficiency,great mechanical proper-ties,and economical practicability in the medium temperature range(500e550C).They need to bejoined with metal electrodes to form a thermoelectric power generation device during application.However,high contact resistivity,severe element diffusion,and large coefficient of thermal expansionmismatch are main obstacles for their applications.To address these issues,a FeCoNiCrMo high-entropyalloy diffusion barrier layer was designed and prepared using an arc smelting method in this paper.Effectof heating temperatures on the microstructure and properties of the bonded joints were investigated.The maximum shear strength was 21.6 Mpa and the corresponding reaction layer thickness,contactresistivity were 3.77 mm,1.8 mUcm2 respectively at 600C,40 MPa,10 min.Shear strength dropped downto 18.8 MPa and the contact resistivity increased to 4.2 mU cm2 after aging for 640 h.Numerical modelwas established and it predicted that the contact resistivity would keep lower than 6.5 mU cm2(300 h,100 days)and 11 mU cm2(8760 h,1 year)and the reaction layer thickness would not exceed 25 mm(2400 h,100 days)and 45 mm(8760 h,1 year).

Effect of Pt diffusion barrier layer in Ni/AuGe/Pt/Au on ohmic contact to n-GaAs

The multi-layer metals of Ni/AuGe/Pt/Au with a Pt diffusion barrier layer of ohmic contact to n-GaAs were studied. The surface morphology and ohmic contact resistivity of multi-layer metals were characterized, with and without the Pt diffusion barrier layer for comparison. The SEM and EDS measurements show the Pt diffusion barrier layer can block the interdiffusion of atoms in multi-layer metals, and improve the surface morphology. The TLM results show that the samples with a Pt diffusion barrier layer have uniform ohmic contact resistance, indicating that the Pt diffusion barrier layer can increase the repetition and uniformity of ohmic contact to n-GaAs, and improve the thermal stability and reliability of GaAs-based devices.

Multi-Physics Modeling of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Fueled by Methane and Analysis of Carbon Deposition

Internal reformation of low steam methane fuel is important for the high efficiency and low cost operation of solid oxide fuel cell. Understanding and overcoming carbon deposition is crucial for the technology development. Here a multi-physics model is established for the relevant experimental cells. Balance of electrochemical potentials for the electrochemical reactions, generic rate expression for the methane steam reforming, dusty gas model in a form of Fick＇s model for anode gas transport are used in the model. Excellent agreement between the theoretical and experimental current-voltage relations is obtained, demonstrating the validity of the proposed theoretical model. The steam reaction order in low steam methane reforming reaction is found to be 1. Detailed information about the distributions of physical quantities is obtained by the numerical simulation. Carbon deposition is analyzed in detail and the mechanism for the coking inhibition by operating current is illustrated clearly. Two expressions of carbon activity are analyzed and found to be correct qualitatively, but not quantitatively. The role of anode diffusion layer on reducing the current threshold for carbon removal is also explained. It is noted that the current threshold reduction may be explained quantitatively with the carbon activity models that are only qualitatively correct.

Multi-Physics Modeling Assisted Design of Non-Coking Anode for Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Fueled by Low Steam Methane

Internal reformation of low steam methane fuel is highly beneficial for improving the energy efficiency and reducing the system complexity and cost of solid oxide fuel cells(SOFCs).However,anode coking for the Ni-based anode should be prevented before the technology becomes a reality.A multi-physics fully coupled model is employed to simulate the operations of SOFCs fueled by low steam methane.The multi-physics model produces I-V relations that are in excellent agreement with the experimental results.The multi-physics model and the experimental non-coking current density deduced kinetic carbon activity criterion are used to examine the effect of operating parameters and the anode diffusion barrier layer on the propensity of carbon deposition.The interplays among the fuel utilization ratio,current generation,thickness of the barrier layer and the cell operating voltage are revealed.It is demonstrated that a barrier layer of 400μm thickness is an optimal and safe anode design to achieve high power density and non-coking operations.The anode structure design can be very useful for the development of high efficiency and low cost SOFC technology.

Interfacial Stress Analysis on Skutterudite-based Thermoelectric Joints under Service Conditions

In thermoelectric(TE)devices,the interfacial reliability greatly influenced devices’durability and power output.For skutterudites(SKD)devices,TE legs and electrodes are bonded together with diffusion barrier layer(DBL).At elevated temperatures,DBL react with SKD matrix or electrode to generate complex interfacial microstructures,which often accompanies evolutions of the thermal,electrical and mechanical properties at the interfaces.In this work,a finite element model containing the interfacial microstructure characteristics based on the experimental results was built to analyze the interfacial stress state in the skutterudite-based TE joints.A single-layer model was applied to screen out the most important parameters of the coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE)and the modulus of DBL on the first principle stress.The multilayer model considering the interfacial microstructures evolution was built to quantitively simulate the stress state of the TE joints at different aging temperatures and time.The simulation results show that the reactive CoSb2 layer is the weakest layer in both SKD/Nb and SKD/Zr joints.And by prolonging the aging time,the thickness of the reaction layer continuously increased,leading to a significant raising of the interfacial stress.The tensile testing results of the SKD/Nb joints match the simulation results well,consolidating accuracy and feasibility of this multilayer model.This study provides an important guidance on the design of DBL to improve the TE joints’mechanical reliability,and a common method to precisely simulate the stress condition in other coating systems.

The investigation of ZnO:Al_2O_3/metal composite back reflectors in amorphous silicon germanium thin film solar cells

Different aluminum-doped ZnO （AZO）/metal composite thin films, including AZO/Ag/Al, AZO/Ag/nickelchromium alloy （NiCr）, and AZO/Ag/NiCr/Al, are utilized as the back reflectors of p-i-n amorphous silicon germanium thin film solar cells. NiCr is used as diffusion barrier layer between Ag and Al to prevent mutual diffusion, which increases the short circuit current density of solar cell. NiCr and NiCr/AI layers are used as protective layers of Ag layer against oxidation and sulfurization, the higher efficiency of solar cell is achieved. The experimental results show that the performance of a-SiGe solar cell with AZO/Ag/NiCr/Al back reflector is best. The initial conversion efficiency is achieved to be 8.05%.

Preparation of SiC Fiber Reinforced Nickel Matrix Composite

A method of preparing continuous（Al＋Al2O3）-coated SiC fiber reinforced nickel matrix composite was presented,in which the diffusion between SiC fiber and nickel matrix could be prevented.Magnetron sputtering is used to deposit Ni coating on the surface of the（Al＋Al2O3）-coated SiC fiber in preparation of the precursor wires.It is shown that the deposited Ni coating combines well with the（Al＋Al2O3） coating and has little negative effect on the tensile strength of（Al＋Al2O3）-coated SiC fiber.Solid-state diffusion bonding process is employed to prepare the（Al＋Al2O3）-coated SiC fiber reinforced nickel matrix with 37% fibers in volume.The solid-state diffusion bonding process is optimized and the optimum parameters are temperature of 870,pressure of 50 MPa and holding time of 2 h.Under this condition,the precursor wires can diffuse well,composite of full density can be formed and the（Al＋Al2O3） coating is effective to restrict the reaction between SiC fiber and nickel matrix.