Additive manufacturing Cooling materials from the 3D printer

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Thermoelectric materials do convert temperature differences into electrical voltage and vice versa, but their production is costly and 'wastes' material. Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have used a 3D printing technique to produce high-performance thermoelectric materials and significantly reduce production costs.

Thermoelectric converters can provide local cooling by using electrical current to transfer heat from one side of the device to the other. Their long lifespan, resistance to leaks, adaptable size and shape, and absence of moving parts like circulating fluids make these devices ideal for various cooling applications, such as in electronics. However, their production from ingots, or blocks of material, involves high costs and generates significant material waste. Moreover, the performance of the devices remains limited.

Our innovative integration of 3D printing into the production of thermoelectric coolers significantly improves manufacturing efficiency and reduces costs.

Shengduo Xu

A team led by Maria Ibáñez, a professor of energy science and head of the Werner Siemens Thermoelectric Laboratory at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), along with first author and ISTA postdoc Shengduo Xu, developed high-performance thermoelectric materials using a 3D printer and built a thermoelectric cooler from them. The researchers published their results in an article in Science. "Our innovative integration of 3D printing in the manufacturing of thermoelectric coolers significantly improves manufacturing efficiency and reduces costs," says Xu. Unlike previous attempts to manufacture thermoelectric materials using 3D printing, the present method also delivers materials with substantially higher performance. ISTA Professor Ibáñez explains: "With performance at a commercially competitive level, our work has the potential to go beyond academic research, gain practical relevance, and attract the interest of industries seeking real-world applications."

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Expanding the boundaries of thermoelectric technologies

Although all materials exhibit a certain thermoelectric effect, it is often too small to be useful. Materials that exhibit a sufficiently high thermoelectric effect are usually "degenerate semiconductors," i.e., "doped" semiconductors that are intentionally imparted with impurities so that they behave like conductors. The most advanced thermoelectric coolers are currently manufactured using bulk fabrication techniques—essentially "cut out" from a block. These expensive and energy-intensive processes require extensive post-production processing and waste a lot of material. "With our current work, we can 3D print thermoelectric materials exactly in the required shape. Furthermore, the resulting devices exhibit a net cooling effect of 50 degrees in the air. This means our 3D-printed materials are similarly efficient as those whose production is significantly more expensive," says Xu. Thus, the ISTA materials science team proposes a scalable and cost-effective production method for thermoelectric materials that bypasses energy-intensive and time-consuming steps.

We used extrusion-based 3D printing technology and designed the ink formulation to ensure the integrity of the printed structure and enhance particle bonding. This allowed us to produce the first thermoelectric coolers made from printed materials that exhibit comparable performance to ingot-based devices while saving material and energy.

Maria Ibáñez

Printed materials with optimized particle bonding

Beyond the application of 3D printing techniques to produce thermoelectric materials, the team designed the printing inks so that, as the carrier solvent evaporates, effective and robust atomic bonds form between the grains. This results in the formation of an atomically connected material network. Consequently, the chemical interfacial bonds enhance charge transfer between the grains. This explains how the team succeeded in improving the thermoelectric performance of its 3D-printed materials while gaining new insights into the transport properties of porous materials. "We used extrusion-based 3D printing technology and designed the ink formulation to ensure the integrity of the printed structure and enhance particle bonding. This allowed us to produce the first thermoelectric coolers made from printed materials that exhibit comparable performance to ingot-based devices while saving material and energy," says Ibáñez.

Thermoelectric coolers for treating burns

In addition to rapid heat dissipation in electronics and wearable devices, thermoelectric coolers could also be used in medicine, for example, in the treatment of burns and to relieve muscle tension. Furthermore, the ink formulation method developed by the ISTA scientists can also be applied to other materials that could be used in high-temperature thermoelectric generators—devices that can generate electrical voltage from a temperature difference. According to the team, such an approach could enhance the applicability of thermoelectric generators in various systems for waste energy recovery.

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