Speaker: Cem Sevik

Title: Thermoelectric Materials Modelling

Date/Time: December 26, 2018 / 13:40 - 14:30

Place: FENS L056

Abstract: Recent developments in hardware and software computer technologies together with the development of accurate materials modeling techniques enable researchers to accurately model various phenomena observed in materials, prediction of their behavior under different conditions and the development/design of cost-effective materials with improved or desired properties. Nowadays, it is possible to perform such simulations even for a large number of materials using the advantages of innovative techniques such as high-throughput simulations. Efficient thermoelectric materials research, as a topical materials science and condensed matter physics problem, has been a good candidate to be investigated with state-of-the-art materials simulation techniques due to the complexity of the experimental procedure and a large number of possible candidate materials. Highly accurate predictions, in particular regarding the effect of defects,grain boundaries, and dimension reduction on both electronic and thermal transport properties have led to the discovery of novel thermoelectric materials and new directions to experimental studies on already known thermoelectric materials. Within the past 10 years, we also have investigated thermoelectric properties of both bulk and nanomaterials by means of density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations. Our systematic studies on the, in particular, controlling the thermal transport properties of the novel nanomaterials, in order to enhance thermoelectric figure of merit of the materials, have been also one of the pioneering studies in the literature and inspired many new studies. The model interatomic potentials developed within the scope of our TE research effort have been still extensively used in the literature.

Bio: Cem Sevik is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Eskisehir Technical University, where he has been since 2012. Since 2013 he serves as Department Chair. He received a B.S. from Abant Izzet Baysal University in 2001, and an M.S. from Bilkent University in 2003. He received his Ph.D. in Computational Physics from Bilkent University in 2008 with a dissertation titled as “Carrier dynamics in silicon and germanium nanocrystals”. From 2008 to 2012 he worked as a Research Associate at TexasA&M University.

Contact: Emre Özlü & Emre Erdem& Erdinç Öztürk