Issue 11, 2022

Solid-state cooling: thermoelectrics

Abstract

The growing demand of thermal management in various fields such as miniaturized 5G chips has motivated researchers to develop new and high-performance solid-state refrigeration technologies, typically including multicaloric and thermoelectric (TE) cooling. Among them, TE cooling has attracted huge attention owing to its advantages of rapid response, large cooling temperature difference, high stability, and tunable device size. Bi2Te3-based alloys have long been the only commercialized TE cooling materials, while novel systems SnSe and Mg3(Bi,Sb)2 have recently been discovered as potential candidates. However, challenges and problems still require to be summarized and further resolved for realizing better cooling performance. In this review, we systematically investigate TE cooling from its internal mechanism, crucial parameters, to device design and applications. Furthermore, we summarize the current optimization strategies for existing TE cooling materials, and finally provide some personal prospects especially the material-planification concept on future research on establishing better TE cooling.

Graphical abstract: Solid-state cooling: thermoelectrics

Associated articles

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
27 Jul 2022
Accepted
09 Sep 2022
First published
14 Sep 2022

Energy Environ. Sci., 2022,15, 4527-4541

Solid-state cooling: thermoelectrics

Y. Qin, B. Qin, D. Wang, C. Chang and L. Zhao, Energy Environ. Sci., 2022, 15, 4527 DOI: 10.1039/D2EE02408J

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