Analysis of the Thermodynamic Consistency of the Richardson–Duhmann Model for Thermionic Converters

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

While the mathematical formulations underlying  the manuscript is very robust, the practical applications pertinent to energy of the presented theoretical framework is somehow vague, I advise the author to elaborate more on this. 

 

Perhaps this is not relevant but can the model handle conducting material as well semi-conductors?

 

Howe accurate the model in predicting DOS against well-defined experimental results?

Author Response

Dear reviewer, thanks for your comments and time. I very much appreciate your efforts and I will try to correspond accordingly, although I am not sure if I know the answer to your questions.

Reviewer: While the mathematical formulations underlying  the manuscript is very robust, the practical applications pertinent to energy of the presented theoretical framework is somehow vague, I advise the author to elaborate more on this.

• Concerning the practical applications, being a theoretical paper, they are difficult to predict. I think one practical application is that the flaws that have been observed in the Richardson-Duhmann model to predict experiments, they cannot be attributed to thermodynamic inconsistency issues; the model has been found robust in this respect. Besides, in response to another reviewer, I have now pointed out in the manuscript (lines 207 to 220) the possibility that the model helps to understand the practical difficulties in choosing the appropriate Richardson constant in order to interpret experimental

Reviewer: Perhaps this is not relevant but can the model handle conducting material as well semi-conductors?

• Strictly speaking, the model, as you know, is applied to vacuum. By similarity, it has been applied in the past to semiconductors (metal-semiconductor junctions) because an electron in a semiconductor behaves as a free electron if you use the effective mass of the electron instead of the mass of the free electron. My guess is that you could also apply it to a metal if you know the density of states but this would be perhaps an extreme case of non-parabolicity in the bands.

Reviewer: Howe accurate the model in predicting DOS against well-defined experimental results?

• By DOS, you mean “density of states”? If this is the case, I am very sorry but I am afraid I lack of the expertise to interpret thermionic experiments results as characterization tool to determine DOS. I am very sorry I cannot give you a more accurate answer.

I hope you can understand my difficulties in providing you with more accurate answers and accept the paper can be published.

Kind regards

Antonio M.

Reviewer 2 Report

See uploaded file

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf