Topological Quantum Materials for Waste Heat Harvesting

Overview

Thermoelectric materials can convert thermal energy into electrical energy, making them great candidates for harvesting waste heat. The issue of wasted heat is becoming more prevalent in the modern age, where energy consumption is increasing sharply. This can be seen in, for example, large-scale data centers that release significant amounts of heat. However, thermoelectric materials currently have low efficiency, so this research project aims to find better thermoelectric materials for energy harvesting. Here, we propose that topological quantum materials or TQMs, a family of materials with topological surface states that make their surface highly conducting, have high thermoelectric efficiency. First, we developed an efficient thermoelectric measurement setup using Arduino and LabVIEW that improved the Arduino resolution by over 1000 times. Then, we measured the thermoelectric properties in topologically tunable (Bi1-xInx)2Se3 thin films as topological surface states were gradually added by decreasing the indium concentration (x). From this, we found that the presence of topological surface states significantly increases the thermoelectric power factor, and there is an optimal thickness where the thermoelectric performance is maximized. These findings show that TQMs are promising for waste heat harvesting and shed light on the path toward better thermoelectric materials.

Competition history

• AJAS 2026 Category not listed

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