Thermoelectric properties of graphene polymorphs

Thermoelectricity is the phenomenon of direct conversion between electrical and thermal energy. Lower-dimensional materials tend to have better thermoelectric performance due to their characteristic density of state profiles and quantum confinement effects in thermoelectric transport coefficients. Carbon-based materials, such as graphene and graphene nanoribbons are perfect candidates as thermoelectric junction materials, due to their low-dimensionality, mechanical robustness, giant Seebeck coefficient, and engineering capabilities of their electronic band structures. In this project, the interns will look at the thermoelectric properties of graphene polymorphs from a computational perspective. They will learn to use the quantum transport software package KWANT to model a thermoelectric junction composed of graphene polymorphs. They will learn and use tight-binding model and Landauer formalism to calculate the thermoelectric transport coefficients.