| Energy is essential for life. It is thus important to continue understanding how to reduce energy consumption, and increase energy generation. The use of nanoscale materials (nanomaterials) are expected to reduce resources and energy needed in fabricating electrical and electronic devices and help in reducing energy consumption. For example, boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) which have uniform band structures, are expected to find application in nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices. These devices will have smaller dimension, cost fewer resources and less energy to fabricate, and consume less energy due to minimum electron scattering in their ideally defect-free tubular structures. On the other hand, nanomaterials are also expected to improve the performance of thermoelectric devices that can convert heat into energy.;In this thesis, we first investigated low-temperature synthesis of BNNTs (Chapter 1). Effects of substrate temperatures, bias voltages, and catalysts are discussed and a selective-phase growth model is proposed. During the course of this investigation, we discovered Si nanotubes (SiNTs) by catalytic plasma treatment (Chapter 2). The detailed growth parameters and characterizations are presented and a modified growth model is discussed. In addition, electronic properties are measured by AFM. Since Si has exceptional thermoelectric properties, the newly discovered SiNTs are prospects for related applications. We have thus evaluated the potential conversion efficiency and production cost of various nanostructured thermoelectric materials (Chapter 3 and 4). Based on state-of-the-art dish-stirling systems, we evaluate the feasibility of replacing stirling engines by thermoelectric modules. Finally, we have decided to investigate the properties of boron-nanocarbon ensembles (Chapter 5 and 6) as prospective thermoelectric materials. Detailed characterizations includes SEM, HRTEM, Raman, XRD are presented. Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity are both measured with various temperatures. Induction quenching confirms that boron-doping help improve power factor of nanocarbon ensembles. |
