Three-dimensional Dirac material anode enables concentrated solar thermionic converters.

Concentrated solar thermionic converters (CSTCs) are proposed by using three-dimensional (3D) Dirac material (DM) as the novel anode, significantly improving device performance. A theoretical model is developed to investigate the optimal performance of CSTCs. Under a solar concentration of 500, the CSTC reaches a maximum conversion efficiency of 11.8%. Furthermore, the optimal working condition and parametric selection criteria of the CSTC parameters under different solar concentrations are determined. Importantly, we demonstrate that 3D DM as an anode has more advantages over metal and graphene in CSTCs. This work thus offers a theoretical foundation for the exploration of solar thermionic application in using 3D DMs as novel electrodes.