Thermomechanical processing of Fe2VAl-based compounds for thermoelectric applications

In numerous industrial applications, recovering low grade heat through the thermoelectric effect would be economical and environmentally friendly. Indeed, thermoelectric materials convert a temperature gradient into electricity. For that purpose, they should have a high electrical conductivity (s), a low thermal conductivity (l) and a high Seebeck coefficient (a = dV/dT). Fe2VAl is a good candidate for large-scale thermoelectric applications since it is cheaper, more readily available and less toxic than more conventional thermoelectric materials (such as Bi2Te3). Moreover it has a similar power factor in the temperature range from 200 to 500 K. The power factor (P = a²s) is the parameter to optimize when recovering low grade heat in industrial processes [Rowe06], because this type of heat is actually dissipated in the atmosphere and is thus a free heat source