Design of a simple apparatus for the measurement of the Seebeck coefficient

Thermoelectric semiconductors have attracted the attention of researchers due to their potential uses in energy conversion and cooling applications. These materials exhibit a potential difference when subjected to a temperature gradient (Seebeck effect). In this work, we report on the design of a simple apparatus to measure the Seebeck coefficient of materials. This low-cost design is easy to implement and suitable for thin films and bulk materials. The operation was evaluated at different temperature values with consideration of different sources of errors. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.