Important notice! The disputation has been moved from auditorium 2 to auditorium 1 because of practical considerations.
The Disputation will be live streamed for everyone else.
The livestream will be activated 15 minutes before the Defence starts.
Trial lecture
Desember, 10:15 AM, Auditorium 3, Chemistry building
Trial lecture title: The application of thermoelectric materials as heat flux sensors
The trial lecture will be live streamed for everyone else.
The livestream will be activated 15 minutes before the trial lecture starts.
Kreeringssammendrag/Conferral summary
Termoelektriske materialer kan omdanne varmegradienter til elektrisk energi og omvendt. I dette prosjektet ble forskjellige sammenkoblinger mellom termoelektriske oksidkeramer undersøkt for å øke ytelse og levetid ved høye temperaturer. Dette kan brukes i termoelektriske generatorer for utnyttelse av spillvarme fra metallurgisk og kjemisk industri, kraftverk, etc., som vil øke systemeffektiviteten og kan minske klimagassutslipp. Studien har vært en del av en innovasjonsklynge for termoelektriske materialer ved Universitetet i Oslo og har gitt resultater som kan brukes til utvikling av nye måleinstrumenter, bedre materialer, og nye fabrikasjonsteknikker.
Main research findings
Sustainable energy harvesting systems such as wind turbines, solar cells, thermoelectric generators, and piezoelectric and electromagnetic devices have gained increased attention over the past few decades to address the energy and climate crises. Thermoelectric generators can transform thermal waste energy into electrical energy and thereby contribute increase system efficiencies of heat intensive processes and reduce emissions.
Traditional thermoelectric alloy materials have good performance, but tend to be toxic, scarce, and oxidizable in air, which limits their application for heat recovery from high temperature processes under ambient conditions. Metal oxides are alternative candidates for thermoelectrics tending to be of low costs, low toxicity, high abundance, and long-term stability at high temperatures, although lower power conversion efficiencies. The research in thermoelectric oxides has so far mainly focused on improving the material properties, while minimization of electrical contact resistance with non-noble-metal contacts is important, but not much considered.
In this project, the oxidation of an intermetallic thermoelectric material was characterised and parameterised. A sample holder for testing materials and interconnects in a 4-leg module at high temperatures was developed and commercialised. The feasibility of omitting the metal interconnect for oxide thermoelectric modules was investigated, by inherently coexistent oxide couples and using conducting oxides. The results give guidance to fabrication of simple, cheap, and stable oxide-based generators for high temperature applications.
Candidate contact information
Web adress: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Reshma-Madathil
E-mail address: Reshma.madathil@smn.uio.no
Phone number: +91 9074743251