Surface textured Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3−δ as light absorber for solar thermoelectric generator

Surface textured Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3−δ oxide ceramics were prepared by means of compression molding followed by high temperature sintering. The effects of surface texture on the optical and photo-thermal conversion performances of Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3−δ were investigated. Results showed that the solar absorptance of Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3−δ increased from 0.69 to 0.85 because of surface texturization. Besides, textured Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3−δ exhibited better photo-thermal conversion ability than the planar ones, with almost no selectivity to the incident irradiation, normal or oblique. Optimized samples were tested as sunlight absorber for concentrating solar thermoelectric generator. It is anticipated that the textured Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3−δ ceramic absorber can be extended to design non-tracking concentrating solar thermoelectric generators.