Performance Analysis of Penta-Graphene Based Thermoelectric Generator: A Simulation Study

Abstract

A thermoelectric generator (TEG) is a device that generates electricity by utilizing the See- beck effect, which creates an electric potential difference in response to a temperature dif- ference. The TEG relies on thermoelectric materials (TEMs) to convert heat into electricity. Researchers are looking for TEMs with low thermal conductivity and penta-graphene (PG) has displayed promising properties when compared to graphene. The performance of a PG- based TEG is assessed through simulations that take into account temperature gradients and the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) parameter, which is a measure of the TEG’s perfor- mance that combines the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and thermal conductiv- ity. The study employs non equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) calculate the phononic thermal conductivity (K p ) and the Boltztrap code to calculate the electronic thermal conduc- tivity (Ke ), electric conductivity and seebeck coefficient of PG. The findings indicate that PG exhibits a lower phononic thermal conductivity compared to graphene. At a temperature of 300 K, PG demonstrated a ZT value of 0.15, which is 16.6 times higher than the ZT value of 0.009 observed for graphene. Furthermore, the ZT value of PG increases with rising tem- perature, reaching 0.52 at 900K. To assess the efficiency of the PG-based TEG, the hot side temperature was varied while maintaining the cold side at 300K. As a result, an efficiency of 7% was achieved when the hot side temperature reached 900K. These findings suggest that PG is a suitable TEM and has the potential to enhance the performance of TEGs. Future research can further explore the use of PG as a TEM and contribute to the development of efficient energy conversion in TEGs.