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Nanomaterials
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Nano-Based Advanced Thermoelectric Design
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Nano-Based Advanced Thermoelectric Design

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy and Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (7 March 2025) | Viewed by 9174

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jin Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China
Interests: electronics cooling; thermal storage; film cooling; thermoelectric material
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Zhen Cao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Engineering Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
Interests: electronics cooling; thermal storage

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Energy is a worldwide concern and has garnered the attention of numerous scientists, who have devoted significant efforts to energy exploitation, utilization, and management, aiming to achieve the sustainable development of human beings. On the one hand, renewable primary energy, e.g., wind energy and solar energy, is being developed. On the other hand, much research has been conducted on energy conversion and management. In the fields of industry, household, and transport, energy is commonly transferred, utilized, and conversed as heat, for instance, in power generation cycles, heating and cooling systems, etc. Therefore, it is critical to properly manage thermal transport and conversion for energy saving and efficiency.

Boiling and condensation are representative heat transfer processes in air conditioning, heat pumps, and Rankie cycles while icing on wind turbine blades is also a significant issue in turbine operation. Nowadays, with the development of micro/nanotechnologies, material sciences provide new perspectives regarding improvements in these thermal processes. For example, hydrophobic/hydrophilic/ice phobic surfaces have been developed for boiling/condensation augmentation and deicing. In addition, thermoelectric materials have been extensively investigated to realize the conversion of heat to electricity, independent of thermodynamic cycles. Furthermore, thermal storage is a prevailing technology able to improve current energy utilization. Many thermal storage materials have been developed to realize thermal storage of different grades, e.g., phase-change materials and thermochemical reaction materials.

The present Special Issue aims to demonstrate the state of the art in thermal energy transport, storage, and conversion. Original research papers, brief research reports, and review papers that address the following topics are welcome:

  • Micro/nano-structure surfaces for boiling/condensation/deicing/combustion/lubrication;
  • Advanced thermoelectric materials;
  • Energy storage materials;
  • Flammable materials.

Dr. Jin Wang
Dr. Zhen Cao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3563 KiB  
Article
Toward Enhancing the Thermoelectric Properties of Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 Alloys by Co-Evaporation of Bi2Te3:Bi and Sb2Te3:Te
by Bernardo S. Dores, Marino J. Maciel, José H. Correia and Eliana M. F. Vieira
Nanomaterials 2025, 15(4), 299; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano15040299 - 16 Feb 2025
Viewed by 2461
Abstract
In this work, we developed nanostructured Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 thin films by thermal co-evaporation of their alloys with corresponding pure elements (Bi, Sb, and Te). The films were fabricated on borosilicate glass at different substrate temperatures and [...] Read more.
In this work, we developed nanostructured Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 thin films by thermal co-evaporation of their alloys with corresponding pure elements (Bi, Sb, and Te). The films were fabricated on borosilicate glass at different substrate temperatures and deposition rates. At 300 °C, enhanced thermoelectric performance was demonstrated for n-type Bi2Te3:Bi and p-type Sb2Te3:Te, with Seebeck coefficients of 195 µV K−1 and 178 μV K−1, along with electrical conductivities of 4.6 × 104 (Ω m)−1 and 6.9 × 104 (Ω m)−1, resulting in maximum power factor values of 1.75 mW K−2 m−1 and 2.19 mW K−2 m−1, respectively. These values are found to be higher than some reported works in the literature, highlighting the advantage of not introducing additional elements to the system (such as extra doping, which induces complexity to the system). The structural properties, film morphology, and chemical composition of the optimized films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The films were found to be polycrystalline with preferred (0 0 6) and (0 1 5) orientations for Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 films, respectively, and stable rhombohedral phases. Additionally, a ring-shaped p-n thermoelectric device for localized heating/cooling was developed and a temperature difference of ~7 °C between the hot and cold zones was obtained using 4.8 mA of current (J = 0.068 mA/mm2). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano-Based Advanced Thermoelectric Design)
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14 pages, 2267 KiB  
Article
Pressure-Induced Assembly of Organic Phase-Change Materials Hybridized with Expanded Graphite and Carbon Nanotubes for Direct Solar Thermal Harvesting and Thermoelectric Conversion
by Jie Ji, Yizhe Liu, Xiaoxiang Li, Yangzhe Xu, Ting Hu, Zhengzheng Li, Peng Tao and Tao Deng
Nanomaterials 2024, 14(24), 2047; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14242047 - 21 Dec 2024
Viewed by 856
Abstract
Direct harvesting of abundant solar thermal energy within organic phase-change materials (PCMs) has emerged as a promising way to overcome the intermittency of renewable solar energy and pursue high-efficiency heating-related applications. Organic PCMs, however, generally suffer from several common shortcomings including melting-induced leakage, [...] Read more.
Direct harvesting of abundant solar thermal energy within organic phase-change materials (PCMs) has emerged as a promising way to overcome the intermittency of renewable solar energy and pursue high-efficiency heating-related applications. Organic PCMs, however, generally suffer from several common shortcomings including melting-induced leakage, poor solar absorption, and low thermal conductivity. Compounding organic PCMs with single-component carbon materials faces the difficulty in achieving optimized comprehensive performance enhancement. Herein, this work reports the employment of hybrid expanded graphite (EG) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to simultaneously realize leakage-proofness, high solar absorptance, high thermal conductivity, and large latent heat storage capacity. The PCM composites were prepared by directly mixing commercial high-temperature paraffin (HPA) powders, EG, and CNTs, followed by subsequent mechanical compression molding. The HPA-EG composites loaded with 20 wt% of EG could effectively suppress melting-induced leakage. After further compounding with 1 wt% of CNTs, the form-stable HPA-EG20-CNT1 composites achieved an axial and in-plane thermal conductivity of 4.15 W/m K and 18.22 W/m K, and a melting enthalpy of 165.4 J/g, respectively. Through increasing the loading of CNTs to 10 wt% in the top thin layer, we further prepared double-layer HPA-EG-CNT composites, which have a high surface solar absorptance of 92.9% for the direct conversion of concentrated solar illumination into storable latent heat. The charged composites could be combined with a thermoelectric generator to release the stored latent heat and generate electricity, which could power up small electric devices such as light-emitting diodes. This work demonstrates the potential for employing hybrid fillers to optimize the thermophysical properties and solar thermal harvesting performances of organic PCMs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano-Based Advanced Thermoelectric Design)
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13 pages, 3914 KiB  
Article
Vests with Radiative Cooling Materials to Improve Thermal Comfort of Outdoor Workers: An Experimental Study
by Yao Wang, Bohao Zhao, Hengxuan Zhu, Wei Yang, Tianpeng Li, Zhen Cao and Jin Wang
Nanomaterials 2024, 14(13), 1119; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14131119 - 28 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1539
Abstract
This study focuses on improving human thermal comfort in a high-temperature outdoor environment using vests with a radiative cooling coating. The effects of coating thickness on the radiative cooling performance were first evaluated, and an optimal thickness of 160 μm was achieved. Then, [...] Read more.
This study focuses on improving human thermal comfort in a high-temperature outdoor environment using vests with a radiative cooling coating. The effects of coating thickness on the radiative cooling performance were first evaluated, and an optimal thickness of 160 μm was achieved. Then, six subjects were recruited to evaluate the thermal comfort in two scenarios: wearing the vest with radiative cooling coatings, and wearing the standard vest. Compared with the standard vest, the coated vest decreases the maximum temperature at the vest inner surface and the outer surface by 5.54 °C and 4.37 °C, respectively. The results show that thermal comfort is improved by wearing radiative cooling vests. With an increase of wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), the improving effects tend to decline. A significant improvement in human thermal comfort is observed at a WBGT of 26 °C. Specifically, the percentage of thermal sensation vote (TSV) wearing the cooling vest in the range of 0 to 1 increases from 29.2% to 66.7% compared with that of the untreated vest. At the same time, the average value of thermal comfort vote (TCV) increases from −0.5 to 0.2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano-Based Advanced Thermoelectric Design)
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18 pages, 6495 KiB  
Article
Micro Lubrication and Heat Transfer in Wedge-Shaped Channel Slider with Convex Surface Texture Based on Lattice Boltzmann Method
by Jinwei Fang, Xiaori Liu, Tianqi Wang and Zhen Song
Nanomaterials 2024, 14(3), 295; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14030295 - 31 Jan 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1268
Abstract
Hydrodynamic lubrication is widely used between two relatively moving objects, and the effect of fluid flow state and temperature distribution on lubrication performance in wedge-shaped gaps is a popular topic to study. In this paper, the incompressible double-distribution lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is [...] Read more.
Hydrodynamic lubrication is widely used between two relatively moving objects, and the effect of fluid flow state and temperature distribution on lubrication performance in wedge-shaped gaps is a popular topic to study. In this paper, the incompressible double-distribution lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is applied to study the effect of micro convex surface texture on micro lubrication and heat transfer in wedge-shaped channels. By comparing this model with the analytical solution of an infinitely wide wedge slider, the maximum pressure calculated by LBM is 0.1081 MPa, and the maximum pressure calculated by the Reynolds equation is 0.1079 MPa. The error of the maximum pressure is 1.11%, and the Reynolds equation result is slightly smaller. The reason is that the Reynolds equation ignores the influence of fluid inertia force on oil film pressure. The results indicate that the application of LBM can be used to study lubrication problems. Compared with the Reynolds equation, LBM can calculate the velocity field and pressure field in the film thickness direction, and can also observe precise flow field details such as vortices. Three micro convex texture shapes were established to study the effects of different convex textures on micro lubrication and oil film temperature distribution, and the velocity distribution, temperature distribution and oil film pressure along the oil film thickness direction were given. Under the same conditions, comparing the oil film pressure with and without surface texture, the results show that the maximum oil film pressure with surface texture 3 is increased by about 4.34% compared with that without surface texture. The slightly convex texture can increase the hydrodynamic lubrication effect and obtain greater load-bearing capacity, helping to reduce the possibility of contact friction. The results show that the convex surface texture can improve the hydrodynamic lubrication performance, increase the load carrying capacity and reduce the possibility of contact friction, and the convex surface texture can influence the temperature distribution of the oil film. At 3.6 mm in the slider length direction and 7.5 μm in the oil film thickness direction, the temperature of surface texture 1 is 402.64 K, the temperature of surface texture 2 is 403.31 K, and the temperature of surface texture 3 is 403.99 K. The presence of vortices is captured at a high convergence ratio. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano-Based Advanced Thermoelectric Design)
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Review

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18 pages, 3821 KiB  
Review
Insights into One-Dimensional Thermoelectric Materials: A Concise Review of Nanowires and Nanotubes
by Giovanna Latronico, Hossein Asnaashari Eivari, Paolo Mele and Mohammad Hussein Naseef Assadi
Nanomaterials 2024, 14(15), 1272; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14151272 - 29 Jul 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2189
Abstract
This brief review covers the thermoelectric properties of one-dimensional materials, such as nanowires and nanotubes. The highly localised peaks of the electronic density of states near the Fermi levels of these nanostructured materials improve the Seebeck coefficient. Moreover, quantum confinement leads to discrete [...] Read more.
This brief review covers the thermoelectric properties of one-dimensional materials, such as nanowires and nanotubes. The highly localised peaks of the electronic density of states near the Fermi levels of these nanostructured materials improve the Seebeck coefficient. Moreover, quantum confinement leads to discrete energy levels and a modified density of states, potentially enhancing electrical conductivity. These electronic effects, coupled with the dominance of Umklapp phonon scattering, which reduces thermal conductivity in one-dimensional materials, can achieve unprecedented thermoelectric efficiency not seen in two-dimensional or bulk materials. Notable advancements include carbon and silicon nanotubes and Bi3Te2, Bi, ZnO, SiC, and Si1−xGex nanowires with significantly reduced thermal conductivity and increased ZT. In all these nanowires and nanotubes, efficiency is explored as a function of the diameter. Among these nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes offer mechanical flexibility and improved thermoelectric performance. Although carbon nanotubes theoretically have high thermal conductivity, the improvement of their Seebeck coefficient due to their low-dimensional structure can compensate for it. Regarding flexibility, economic criteria, ease of fabrication, and weight, carbon nanotubes could be a promising candidate for thermoelectric power generation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano-Based Advanced Thermoelectric Design)
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