Thermoelectrics represents direct energy conversion between thermal and electrical energy, which is an all solid state, environmentally benign technology. Currently thermoelectric energy conversion suffers from low efficiency, which is only about one third of other widely used energy conversion technologies. Nanowires are one promising class of materials that can enhance the thermoelectric energy conversion efficiency to be comparable to other energy conversion technologies, which can revolutionize the energy conversion industry. The objective of this proposal is to create novel boron-based (i.e., boron and boride) nanowires, which have unique structures in favor of thermoelectric energy conversion. We will integrate a proved-successful suspended microheater device with a unique cryogenic four-probe scanning tunneling microscope to experimentally measure the thermoelectric energy conversion performance of the as-synthesized boron-based nanowires to understand the fundamental materials behaviors and their potentials for thermoelectric energy conversion. The success of this project will produce a new class of high performance materials for thermoelectric power generation, which has extensive implications in portable power supplies, waste heat recovery, and prevention of global warming crisis. The project will promote close collaborations among the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte), Vanderbilt University (VU) and Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) to form a highly interdisciplinary team with synergetic expertise in materials science, thermophysical property measurement, and ultra-microscopy. The truly interdisciplinary nature of this research program will help to achieve interdisciplinary training of graduate, undergraduate, and minority students. The PIs will make the efforts of extending the research impact to K-12 students by demonstrating thermoelectric energy conversion and explaining the basic idea of thermoelectric energy conversion.
