The Institute of AMT develops material for a radioisotope thermoelectric generator

MIET is one of the first universities in our country that began to work with thermoelectricity. This year our scientists started to develop a unique material for alternative energy - highly efficient bulk nanostructured thermoelectric material for a wide range of operating temperatures from 300 to 1200 K.

“Thermoelectric materials should have a very low thermal conductivity,” says Professor of the Institute of Advanced Materials and Technologies, Yuri Stern. – It is about 1 watt per square meter per degree Celsius. It's like glass. And our task is to obtain thermoelectric materials with extremely low thermal conductivity. We can do this by reducing the lattice component of thermal conductivity in nanostructured materials.”

Initially the new material is assumed to be obtained in the form of a powder with particles of the order of tens of nanometers in size. This powder will subsequently be made into a bulk material using, for example, hot pressing or spark plasma sintering. Due to the scattering of phonons at the boundaries of the nanoparticles that will make up the material, it will have a low thermal conductivity, while the electrical conductivity will decrease slightly.

“We need to confirm the effectiveness of nanostructuring to obtain high efficiency thermoelements that will be made from these materials, and to understand whether the material degrades at high temperatures. Whether such a nanostructure remain when heated to high temperatures or not,” emphasizes A.A. Sherchenkov.

The promising material will be used when planning of long-range space flights. For example, in order to launch an interplanetary station into deep space capable of operating for decades, radioisotope thermoelectric generators based on this material will be needed and it will not require any maintenance. Also, the application is relevant for generating electricity in hard-to-reach regions, for example, in the Arctic, for creating cathodic protection of pipelines, for example, Power of Siberia. Thermoelectric generators with this material will be an excellent alternative to wind turbines and solar panels, which require a wide range of conditions for correct operation.