Development of New Brazing Alloys for Joining of Thermoelectric Materials
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Materials Science and Engineering
Abstract
The aim of the project will be to model new filler metal alloy compositions that will be suitable for joining of thermo electric materials. The majority of commercially available filler metals tend to melt either below 350C (solders) or above 575C (brazing filler metals) with silver brazing filler metals melting above 650C. The joining of thermo electric materials is identified as a technology challenge because; (1) solders do not have sufficient strength and may suffer from Creep at the elevated operating temperatures and (ii) the melting temperature of brazing filler metals can result in damage to the thermo electric materials themselves. One approach will be to look for brazing alloys with so called high entropy characteristics which may exhibit lower than expected melting ranges.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Russell Goodall (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Matthew Way (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/P510634/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2021 | |||
| 1816028 | Studentship | EP/P510634/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2020 | Matthew Way |
| Description | This work has led to the discovery of new brazing filler metal compositions for the joining of thermoelectric devices. The industrial sponsors of this PhD have deemed these newly developed compositions of sufficient interest to warrant protecting and have filed a patent to cover the compositions developed and their specific application area. |
| Exploitation Route | The compositions developed in this study require further application focused testing to bring them into the industrial marketplace. Further refining of the compositions developed (by addition of other alloy additions etc) may lead to additional benefits such as decreasing the melting temperature range and improving wettability and flow. |
| Sectors | Electronics,Transport,Other |
| Description | The alloy compositions produced in this work have been examined by the industrial sponsor and deemed suitable for patenting and as such a patent has been filed with the UK patent office. It is expected that once the patent review process has been completed and granted that the introduction of a new filler metal capable of joining thermoelectrics will have a positive impact on propelling thermoelectric technology closer to the marketplace and assisting in carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles by improving vehicle efficiency |
| Sector | Electronics,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |