Dissertation Defense Schedule
Academic Excellence
Sharing original dissertation research is a principle to which the University of Delaware is deeply committed. It is the single most important assignment our graduate students undertake and upon completion is met with great pride.
We invite you to celebrate this milestone by attending their dissertation defense. Please review the upcoming dissertation defense schedule below and join us!
PROGRAM | Materials Science & Engineering
Structure-Property Relationships of Printed Bismuth Telluride Thermoelectrics
By: Glenn Catlin Chair: Robert Opila
ABSTRACT
Thermoelectric devices are designed to either produce useful power from a thermal gradient or produce a thermal gradient from an applied voltage. The design of such devices requires the production of advanced materials with a maximum thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT. The performance of these materials must also meet device-level requirements such as performance at a given operating temperature and the ability to tolerate external forces while maintaining overall device functionality.
The motivation for this work is based on applications that require mechanical flexibility while also providing surface cooling relative to room temperature conditions, such as flexible automotive seat coolers. With that targeted application in mind, this work focuses on developing a straightforward way to produce these materials and model the relationship between the microstructure and mechanical properties of these materials. This work studied the classic room temperature thermoelectric material, bismuth telluride, in the form of a simple thermoelectric paste consisting of bismuth telluride powder, ethyl cellulose polymer, and TexanolTM solvent. This paste lends itself to be used in standard flexible electronics industry fabrication techniques such as screen-printing and belt-furnace thermal processing.
This research is instructive in that it provides a method for the production of a screen-printable thermoelectric paste, defines the processing conditions that vary the mechanical properties of the sintered thermoelectric prints, and develops a straight forward process of measuring the porosity of those prints using SEM and image processing techniques. The output of this research is a model of the relationship between porosity and elastic modulus of a sintered bismuth telluride film system. This approach can be used to model the relationship of any printed and sintered thermoelectric materials system.
The Process
Step-by-Step
Visit our “Step-by-Step Graduation Guide” to take you through the graduation process.From formatting your Dissertation to Doctoral Hooding procedures.
Dissertation Manual
Wondering how to set up the format for your paper. Refer to the “UD Thesis/Dissertation Manual” for formatting requirements and more.
Defense Submission Form
This form must be completed two weeks in advance of a dissertation defense to meet the University of Delaware Graduate and Professional Education’s requirements.
