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Thermoelectric properties of two dimensional superlattice

wangxy31 - Posted on 10 October 2017

Project Description: 

Superlattice, a periodic structure with two or more materials in a certain period length, has become the promising candidates in thermoelectric applications. This project mainly focuses on first-principles calculations and molecular dynamics simulation of two dimensional superlattice. Firstly, we want to calculate the electrical properties and Seebeck coefficient of superlattice with VASP. Secondly, we want to study thermal transport in superlattice with LAMMPS.

Researcher name: 
Dr. Yue Chen
Researcher position: 
Assistant professor
Researcher department: 
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Researcher email: 
yuechen@hku.hk
Research Project Details
Project Duration: 
09/2017 to 08/2018
Project Significance: 
Previous studies have demonstrated that superlattice structure can have good thermoelectric properties. In this project, we will create the graphene and nitrogenated holey graphene (C2N) superlattice to investigate the thermoelectric properties. As we know, graphene has a high electrical and thermal conductivity while C2N has a low thermal conductivity, which provides the possibility to combine the high electrical conductivity of graphene and the low thermal conductivity of C2N to form graphene-C2N superlattice for thermoelectric applications. We tune the period length of superlattice to modify the electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and Seebeck coefficient to optimize the figure of merit. We also compare the thermoelectric properties of superlattice with pure graphene or C2N. Finally, we can conclude the advantage of superlattice in thermoelectric application. This study will give the fundamental knowledge for 2D superlattice applications in thermoelectric devices.