Theoretical study on microscopic thermoelectricity and triboelectricity of materials

Abstract

This dissertation presents a theoretical study of microscopic thermoelectric transport and triboelectricity of materials based on first-principles calculations. The thermoelectricity, which produces electricity through heat, the most abundant energy source in nature, is well understood on a macroscopic level, but its behavior is relatively poorly understood on a microscopic level. We propose a theoretical development to describe nanoscale thermoelectric transport. This covers from effective calculation of transmission function using linear tetrahedron method to various tip-sample morphology. Furthermore, the governing principal of triboelectricity in the linear perturbative region is proposed by extending the microscopic thermoelectricity to the thermoelectric response due to interfacial frictional heating. The governing equation is determined by the triboelectric factor consisting of the Seebeck coefficient, density, specific heat, and thermal conductivity, and through this, the first quantitative theoretical triboelectric series is proposed.