Disclosed is a thermoelectric composite material includes a thermoelectric material including crystal grains; and a MXene inserted at boundaries of the crystal grains consisting of the thermoelectric material. Accordingly, the thermoelectric composite material may have a reduced thermal conductivity and an increased electrical conductivity. Furthermore, mechanical properties of the thermoelectric composite material may be improved. Thus, the thermoelectric composite material may improve the thermoelectric ability of a thermoelectric module including the same. A method of manufacturing the thermoelectric composite material includes coating MXene on a surface of a thermoelectric material powder including crystal grains; and sintering the thermoelectric material powder coated with the MXene to form a sintered body including the MXene inserted at boundaries of the crystal grains consisting of the thermoelectric material.

The present invention relates to thermoelectric power generating devices using thermoelectric elements and thereby generating electricity realizing direct conversion of heat to electric power due to difference in temperature. The present invention is targeted on improving thermoelectric efficiency of a thermoelectric device. According to the first variant of the present invention, technical result is achieved by that a) in thermoelectric element consisting of p-type leg and n-type leg jointed in serial electrical circuit, p-type leg is made of polycrystalline textured semiconductor Bi.sub.2Te.sub.3Sb.sub.2Te.sub.3 alloy with high thermoelectric efficiency in the operating temperature range T>100 C. and b) in p-type leg, heat flux is directed from the hot end to the cold end parallel the crystallographic axis C. According to the second variant of the present invention, technical result is achieved by that a) in thermoelectric element consisting of p-type leg and n-type leg jointed in serial electrical circuit, p-type leg is made of polycrystalline textured semiconductor Bi.sub.2Te.sub.3Sb.sub.2Te.sub.3 alloy and built up of two parts which are in perfect electrical and thermal contact and b) in part of p-type leg at low-temperature end of thermoelectric element, heat flux is directed from the hot end to the cold end transverse the crystallographic axis C, while in part of p-type leg at high-temperature end of thermocouple, heat flux is directed from the hot end to the cold end parallel the crystallographic axis C.

Provided is a thermoelectric conversion module having a high heat resistance. The thermoelectric conversion module includes a first substrate, a second substrate, a thermoelectric element, and a bonding layer. The first substrate includes a first metalized layer. The second substrate includes a second metalized layer which faces the first metalized layer. The thermoelectric element includes a chip formed from a thermoelectric material and is arranged between the first metalized layer and the second metalized layer. The bonding layer is composed of a sintered body of a metallic material of which the average crystal particle diameter is no greater than 20 m and bonds the first metalized layer and the second metalized layer with the thermoelectric element.

A composite including: at least one selected from a silicon oxide of the formula SiO.sub.2 and a silicon oxide of the formula SiO.sub.x wherein 0<x<2; and graphene, wherein the silicon oxide is disposed in a graphene matrix.

A composite including: at least one selected from a silicon oxide of the formula SiO.sub.2 and a silicon oxide of the formula SiO.sub.x wherein 0<x<2; and graphene, wherein the silicon oxide is disposed in a graphene matrix.

A composite including: at least one selected from a silicon oxide of the formula SiO.sub.2 and a silicon oxide of the formula SiO.sub.x wherein 0<x<2; and graphene, wherein the silicon oxide is disposed in a graphene matrix.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a thermoelectric leg comprises: a thermoelectric material layer comprising Bi and Te; a first metal layer and a second metal layer respectively arranged on one surface of the thermoelectric material layer and on a surface different from the one surface; a first adhesive layer arranged between the thermoelectric material layer and the first metal layer and comprising the Te, and a second adhesive layer arranged between the thermoelectric material layer and the second metal layer and comprising the Te; and a first plating layer arranged between the first metal layer and the first adhesive layer, and a second plating layer arranged between the second metal layer and the second adhesive layer, wherein the thermoelectric material layer is arranged between the first metal layer and the second metal layer, the amount of the Te is higher than the amount of the Bi from the centerline of the thermoelectric material layer to the interface between the thermoelectric material layer and the first adhesive layer, and the amount of the Te is higher than the amount of the Bi from the centerline of the thermoelectric material layer to the interface between the thermoelectric material layer and the second adhesive layer.

A composite including: at least one selected from a silicon oxide of the formula SiO.sub.2 and a silicon oxide of the formula SiO.sub.x wherein 0<x<2; and graphene, wherein the silicon oxide is disposed in a graphene matrix.

A composite including: at least one selected from a silicon oxide of the formula SiO.sub.2 and a silicon oxide of the formula SiO.sub.x wherein 0<x<2; and graphene, wherein the silicon oxide is disposed in a graphene matrix.

Disclosed are methods for the manufacture of n-type and p-type filled skutterudite thermoelectric legs of an electrical contact. A first material of CoSi.sub.2 and a dopant are ball-milled to form a first powder which is thermo-mechanically processed with a second powder of n-type skutterudite to form a n-type skutterudite layer disposed between a first layer and a third layer of the doped-CoSi.sub.2. In addition, a plurality of components such as iron, and nickel, and at least one of cobalt or chromium are ball-milled form a first powder that is thermo-mechanically processed with a p-type skutterudite layer to form a p-type skutterudite layer second layer disposed between a first and a third layer of the first powder. The specific contact resistance between the first layer and the skutterudite layer for both the n-type and the p-type skutterudites subsequent to hot-pressing is less than about 10.0 .Math.cm.sup.2.