Automated Instrumentation for the Determination of the High-Temperature Thermoelectric Figure-of-Merit

TL;DR

This paper presents a compact, low-cost, automated setup for high-temperature thermoelectric measurements, enabling simultaneous determination of Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity, and electrical resistivity to calculate the figure of merit (ZT).

Contribution

The work introduces a simplified, lightweight, and accessible measurement system with automation in Python, improving ease of use and accuracy for high-temperature thermoelectric characterization.

Findings

The setup accurately measures thermoelectric properties at high temperatures.

Calibration with Bi0.36Sb1.45Te3 shows good agreement with reported data.

Design minimizes heat loss and simplifies assembly for practical use.

Abstract

In this work, we report the fabrication of a high temperature measurement setup to measure Figure of merit (ZT). This setup facilitates the simultaneous measurement of Seebeck coefficient ({\alpha}), thermal conductivity (\kappa), and electrical resistivity (\rho) required to calculate ZT. Measurement of temperature, as well as voltages using same thermocouples, simplified the design of the setup by minimizing sensors and wires. Limited components used in the sample holder further simplify the design and make it small in size and lightweight. The dedicated thin heater is made, which minimizes the heat loss. Further, low heat loss is achieved by optimizing the insulator dimension. To measure power delivered to the heater, 4-wire technique is used. Low cost and commonly available materials used in the fabrication of various components make it more accessible to the user as any parts can be easily replaced in case of any damage occurs. A dedicated program is built in the Python programming language to automate the whole measurement process. p-type Bi0.36Sb1.45Te3 sample is used to calibrate this measurement setup. The data collected are found to be in good agreement with the reported data.