O'Brien, PaulMansoor, Mehran Sepah2024-03-182024-03-182024-03-16https://hdl.handle.net/10315/41898This thesis investigates the enhancement of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems using one-dimensional photonic crystals (1DPC) with a graded index of refraction as optical filters. It compares three 1DPC configurations: graded index, traditional quarter-wave, and modified quarter-wave stacks, to improve TPV performance. Designed for TPV applications, these filters aim to increase in-band transparency and minimize absorption while ensuring high out-of-band reflection. Graded index 1DPCs, made of porous silicon dioxide and solid zirconium dioxide, exhibit low absorbance across a broad spectrum, offering a novel approach in TPV applications. Significantly, a double-stack graded filter at an emitter temperature of 2000 K achieved 74% in-band transmittance and 55% out-of-band reflectance. Highlighting a design trade-off, the study presents an optimal filter configuration that yields a 24% system efficiency and a power density of 6.9 W/cm^2. The analysis focuses on system efficiency and power output, emphasizing the advancement in TPV efficiency through the application of graded index 1DPC filters.Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.EnergyOpticsMaterials ScienceElectronic Thesis or Dissertation2024-03-16ThermophotovoltaicSustainable energyOptical filterPhotonic crystals