Hello! I am Meenakshi, a Ph.D. Candidate in the Nanoenergy and Thermophysics Lab at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The focus of my research is the modelling of thermoelectric transport in crystalline and amorphous semiconducting materials.
My Research
The primary focus of my research is to study electrical and thermal transport, and nanoengineering techniques to identify novel semiconductor materials for thermoelectric devices that can efficiently harvest waste heat. The need for alternative energy sources has dramatically increased the interest in electric power generation from waste heat and natural sources, which has led to extensive research on more cost-effective and energy-efficient thermoelectric materials.
The general structure of a thermoelectric module and the potential for power generation from waste heat is shown below.
My doctoral research until now includes three primary objectives:
- Engineering the thermal transport in Si and Si-Ge alloy nanostructures using a phonon transport model based on the Boltzmann equation.
- Simulation studies of the role of charge transport dynamics in determining the thermoelectric properties of disordered semiconducting polymers.
- The application of thermoelectric materials in building facade systems.