Joo Seong-jae, the principal researcher at the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) Electromagnetic Conversion Materials Research Center, announced on the 7th that his research team has developed a metallization process technology that can significantly enhance the economic viability and eco-friendliness of thermoelectric power generation modules using the environmentally friendly new material 'magnesium antimonide' and has manufactured related prototypes.
Thermoelectric power generation is a technology that converts temperature differences in thermoelectric semiconductor materials into electrical energy. Until now, nickel has been used as an electrode, and bismuth telluride has been used as the thermoelectric semiconductor material, but the main constituent element tellurium is scarce, making it expensive.
As a result, many researchers are working to utilize 'magnesium antimonide,' which has similar performance to bismuth telluride but contains no scarce elements and is only about one-fifth the cost. However, a process technology that can easily and simply form an appropriate metallic electrode for magnesium antimonide was necessary.
The research team developed a process technology to manufacture thermoelectric power generation modules by using magnesium and copper foil as electrodes instead of nickel, bonding the electrodes to magnesium antimonide-based thermoelectric semiconductor materials. The magnesium foil electrode acts as a kind of protective barrier, preventing the loss of magnesium within the thermoelectric semiconductor, and is wrapped with highly conductive copper foil to maintain the characteristics of thermoelectric generation.
The developed technology can directly apply metallic foil above and below the thermoelectric semiconductor in a dry process to complete the electrodes, which enhances reproducibility and scalability, making it favorable for mass production.
Based on this, the research team has produced a 'hybrid thermoelectric module prototype' and conducted performance verification. As a result, the cost of manufacturing was reduced by more than 20% while maintaining comparable performance to that achieved using only bismuth telluride. Currently, they have completed domestic and international patent applications for the technology and plan to seek out corporations to transfer the technology.
Principal researcher Joo Seong-jae noted, 'This achievement not only overcomes the limits of the metallization process but also holds great significance in terms of commercialization as it greatly enhances the accessibility of thermoelectric modules for corporations.'