Figure of Merit

“The usefulness of a thermoelectric material for energy

conversion is mainly determined by its dimensionless
thermoelectric figure of merit, zT.”
Thermoelectric Figure of Merit
• In 1911, Altenkirch introduced the concept of a dimensionless unit
(figure of merit) to evaluate the performance of thermoelectric
materials

σ : Electrical Conductivity
S : Seebeck Coefficient
K : Thermal Conductivity