Thermoelectric pProperties of hHigh-pPerformance n-tType lLead tTelluride mMeasured iInsSitu in a nNuclear rReactor cCore. Issue 40 (5th October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kempf, Nicholas; Luo, Zhong-Zhen; Xie, Hongyao; Daw, Joshua; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.; Zhang, Yanliang
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 10:Issue 40(2022)
• Page Start: 21266
• Page End: 21272
• Publication Date: 2022-10-05
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/d2ta04409a
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : Thermoelectric properties measured in-situ in the core of a nuclear reactor. High-performing thermoelectric material is tolerant to in-core irradiation. Abstract : Thermoelectric generators are promising energy sources in remote or harsh environments such as the core of a nuclear reactor where they can power remote sensors and other in-core instrumentation. A high-performance n-type lead telluride material Pb0.975 Ga0.025 Te–0.25% ZnTe was inserted into the core of a nuclear reactor and thermoelectric material properties were continuously monitored while it was irradiated for 228 MW-days to a fast neutron (>1.0 MeV) fluence of 2.0 × ×10 20 n/cm −2 . The electrical conductivity increased within hours of the reactor starting with a peak increase to 343% of the non-irradiated electrical conductivity at the same temperatures. The electrical conductivity subsequently decreased but leveled off at 155–-161% of the non-irradiated value near the end of the reactor cycle. The thermoelectric power factor and device power density peaked at 132% of the non-irradiated values within the first few days but fell to 90% of the non-irradiated values around day 9 due to a moderate drop in Seebeck coefficient to 57% of the non-irradiated value. Beyond day 9, the Seebeck coefficient steadily increased until leveling off at 81–-85% of its non-irradiated value near the end of the cycle. After the initial transient changes in Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity, the power factor of the material in-core was approximately the same as the measured value before irradiation. However, due to a sudden increase in Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity during the last few days, the power factor at the end of the reactor cycle was 8–-10% greater than the power factor of the non-irradiated material at the same temperatures. These results indicate that the PbTe based thermoelectric material studied in this work can serve as a solid-state power source for operation in the harsh environment of a nuclear reactor core.