Public Thesis Defense of Mathieu DELCROIX - IMMC

Advanced Powder Metallurgy for the Manufacturing of Fe2VAl-based Thermoelectric Generator 

February 17th, 2026, 4:15pm - Auditorium SUD08 - Place Croix du Sud, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve

Thermoelectric materials can convert heat directly into electricity. However, commercially available solutions are generally based on rare, expensive, or even toxic elements, which limits their potential for large-scale applications. In contrast, Fe2VAl -based compounds rely on inexpensive and widely available elements. Although extensive research has been devoted to understanding and optimizing their thermoelectric properties, significant challenges remain from a processing perspective, especially for the scalable fabrication of Fe2VAl -based generators.

This thesis investigates several powder-metallurgy-based routes aimed at simplifying the manufacturing of Fe2VAl -based thermoelectric generators. In particular, Fe2VAl was processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion for the first time. The sintering of Fe2VAl and its co-sintering with various metals were also studied, leading to the successful fabrication of transverse thermoelectric generators exhibiting a simplified geometry

Jury members :

Prof. Pascal JACQUES (UCLouvain), Supervisor

Prof. Paul FISETTE (UCLouvain), Chairperson

Prof. Bruno DEHEZ  (UCLouvain), Secretary

Dr. Eric ALLENO (ICMPE)

Dr. Guillaume SAVELLI (CEA)

Dr. Geoffrey ROY (Thermo Power Systems & UCLouvain)

Pay attention : the public defense of Mathieu DELCROIX will also take place in the form of a videoconference