Journal
CRYSTALS
Volume 12, Issue 3, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/cryst12030307
Keywords
silicon; waste silicon; semiconductor; energy harvesting; electronic waste; thermoelectrics; solar cell waste
Funding
- Singapore Aerospace Programme Cycle 15, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) [M2115a0092]
- Singapore Career Development Fund (CDF) [C210112022]
- Sustainable Hybrid Lighting System for Controlled Environment Agriculture Program [A19D9a0096]
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Thermoelectric materials have the ability to convert waste heat into electricity, with high-temperature thermoelectrics being particularly attractive due to factors like light weight, abundance, and low cost. This review focuses on the usage of high-temperature thermoelectric generators in commercial aviation and space voyages, emphasizing silicon-based compounds and recent works on recycled silicon and their thermoelectric properties. Insights from this review can guide sustainable recycling of e-waste into thermoelectrics for power harvesting.
Thermoelectrics can convert waste heat to electricity and vice versa. The energy conversion efficiency depends on materials figure of merit, zT, and Carnot efficiency. Due to the higher Carnot efficiency at a higher temperature gradient, high-temperature thermoelectrics are attractive for waste heat recycling. Among high-temperature thermoelectrics, silicon-based compounds are attractive due to the confluence of light weight, high abundance, and low cost. Adding to their attractiveness is the generally defect-tolerant nature of thermoelectrics. This makes them a suitable target application for recycled silicon waste from electronic (e-waste) and solar cell waste. In this review, we summarize the usage of high-temperature thermoelectric generators (TEGs) in applications such as commercial aviation and space voyages. Special emphasis is placed on silicon-based compounds, which include some recent works on recycled silicon and their thermoelectric properties. Besides materials design, device designing considerations to further maximize the energy conversion efficiencies are also discussed. The insights derived from this review can be used to guide sustainable recycling of e-waste into thermoelectrics for power harvesting.
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