Development and Automation of a Thermoelectric Characterization System

In the search and development of new materials to generate energy from heat, it is necessary to characterize the thermal and electrical properties. With this purpose, a system capable of measuring these properties for samples of semiconductor materials in the form of tablets was constructed. The system measures the Seebeck coefficient in the temperature range 25-100 °C. It also allows the acquisition of JV curves at different temperatures which can calculate the resistivity (conductivity) of the electrical material. The system is automated through the use of software such as LabVIEW and Arduino. Keithley 2410-C 1100V Sourcemeter® using RS232 serial communication. The measurement of the temperature at the sides of the sample was performed through the Arduino platform (Arduino Uno Board) using the Slave/Master configuration and USB communication. Where the computer that contain the LabVIEW software is the "Master" and as "Slaves" to the Arduino board and the KEITHLEY sourcemeter. The heating of the samples were by Peltier cells and a programmed PWM control.