Thermoelectric battery based on bundles of Bi and Sb nanowires in anodic alumina matrices

Abstract

A model of a microthermoelectric battery consisting of series connected thermoelectric cells of one-dimensional nanostructures formed into bundles by external contacts is proposed. The electrochemical processes of forming Bi and Sb nanowire arrays with the required dimensions and physicochemical properties in porous anodic alumina templates with large length-to-diameter ratios are studied and developed. The design and basis of the fabrication technology of microthermoelectric battery branches are developed, whose heat flow density will be controlled by the Seebeck coefficient measured at external contacts connecting the nanowire ends. It is shown that a set of parallel branches in the battery can be fabricated due to a high density of nanowire packing in a porous matrix, which will make it possible to achieve a fundamentally higher increase in the microheat meter efficiency.