Archive for category Thermoelectric

3D Printable Thin Film Thermoelectric Generator is Flexible Enough to Install Anywhere

Posted by Benji Jerew in Thermoelectric on March 28, 2013

Most energy systems are extremely inefficient, but flexible thermoelectric generators could recover some of that lost energy and put it back into the system. If we’ve ever seen steam billowing from a cooling tower or felt the hot exhaust coming from an automobile, what we’ve really been seeing is lost energy. According to the US [...]

New Thermoelectric Tube by Panasonic Recovers Lost Heat Energy

Posted by Mila Luleva in Thermoelectric on March 25, 2013

The latest technology by the giant Panasonic, a “thermoelectric tube,” is being tested at their Northeastern Clean Center in Kyoto City for its power generating capabilities. The tube can produce electricity from hot water by creating temperature differences between the different thermoelectric materials with low and high thermal conductivity. The company claims that a termoelectric [...]

How to Build an Electricity-Producing Peltier Gasifier

Posted by Mila Luleva in Biogas, How to..., Thermoelectric on February 13, 2013

A gasifier works by decomposing organic matter in an oxygen-free environment at high temperatures and then burning the hydrogen that results from that decomposition. It is a smokeless, much cleaner way of providing electricity and/or heat without particle emissions and soot. The so-called “Fusion Jr.” Home Energy Reactor has an amazing potential to generate energy [...]

Organic Thermoelectric Conversion Material to Be Used in Human Health Monitoring Devices

Posted by Leigh Kim in Thermoelectric on February 7, 2013

Using an organic polymer, Fujifilm Corp developed an organic thermoelectric conversion material and claims the material demonstrates the highest thermoelectric conversion efficiency in the world. Fujifilm demonstrated its new device at Nanotech 2013 in Tokyo on February 1. Rumor has it the material was developed in cooperation with Japan’s Association for Iron and Steel Technology [...]

Atomic Layer Deposition Improves Thermoelectric Materials

Posted by Mila Luleva in Thermoelectric on January 22, 2013

Researchers at Aalto University School of Chemical Technology developed a new cost-effective method to convert waste energy into electricity without carbon dioxide emissions. The team defined the synthesis method as extremely suitable for growing films made of thermoelectric zinc oxide material. To improve the thermoelectric properties of the material, the team added small amounts of either aluminium or [...]

Treating Heat Just Like Light Yields New Thermoelectric Applications

Posted by Mila Luleva in Thermoelectric on January 11, 2013

New research coming from MIT’s Department of Materials science and engineering, reveals a technique that allows manipulation of heat so that it can be controlled as light waves. The author, Martin Maldovan, a researcher at the institute, engineered materials that consist of nanostructured semiconductor alloy crystals. Considering that heat is basically a vibration of matter, [...]

Energy-Saving Thermoelectric Material Made From Dirt

Posted by Leigh Kim in Thermoelectric on November 29, 2012

A team of researchers at Michigan State University have developed a new type of thermoelectric material by using common materials found in dirt. The researchers developed this material using what they know about tetrahedrites, one of the most abundant minerals on Earth. MSU Professor of Chemical Engineering, Donald Morelli, and his team figured out how [...]

Fraunhofer Team Invents Printed Thermoelectric Device

Posted by Mila Luleva in Thermoelectric on November 16, 2012

At the Electronica trade fair in Munich (13 – 16 November), researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen is presenting a striking innovation. A printed thermogenerator, manufactured by the team, which deposits functional structures containing ink or paste base, and has electrical circuit boards and sensors that can [...]

New Hybrid Thermoelectric-Photovoltaic Device Demonstrated at UTA

Posted by Benji Jerew in Solar Power, Thermoelectric on November 13, 2012

For decades, photovoltaic devices have generated electricity directly from sunlight. Thermoelectric devices generate electricity from heat energy. Both devices have found their way into various applications, from photovoltaic roof panels to thermoelectric energy recovery in vehicles. Both methods of electrical generation are fairly inefficient, but now, by combining these two properties, researchers at University of [...]

Practical Thermoelectric Power Possible with Newly Invented Material

Posted by Benji Jerew in Car industry, Thermoelectric on September 25, 2012

Energy efficiency, that is, the amount of usable energy in a given fuel, is based off a number of factors. Hydrocarbon fuels, for example, have a given amount of chemical energy, that, when ignited, can be used to generate electricity, or propel locomotives and passenger vehicles. Even in the most efficient motor vehicle, more than [...]

DIY: How to Build a Thermoelectric Energy Generator With a Cheap Peltier Unit

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in How to..., Thermoelectric on June 22, 2012

Peltier units transform the difference of heat to electricity. They belong to a class of materials called “thermoelectrics” and are one of auto industry’s greatest hopes in what regards the savings obtained from an internal combustion engine. With a Peltier unit, a car can effectively decrease its fuel consumption by recovering part of the energy [...]

New Carbon Nanotube-Based Thermoelectric Material Could Be a Game Changer

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Thermoelectric on February 24, 2012

A new thermoelectric material has been invented at the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at wake Forest University. It’s been called Power Felt, and its creators hope that one day it will revolutionize the way we power small appliances and devices like cell phones by using temperature differences. Power Felt is made from carbon nanotubes [...]

MIT Researchers Invent Solar Cells That Transform Heat Into Electricity

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Solar Power, Thermoelectric on July 28, 2011

If you thought photovoltaics can only get energy from the Sun, then you were wrong. An MIT team of researchers have invented a device that produces electricity from heat. The process uses the photovoltaic effect as the middleman and is three times more efficient than the most efficient lithium ion batteries on market today.

New Multiferroic Alloy Magnetizes When Heated, Transforms Waste Heat Into Electricity

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Thermoelectric on June 27, 2011

A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota has discovered a new alloy that can transform heat into electricity. The approach is new and uses a coil to transform the magnetic field generated by the alloy.

Thermoelectric Phone Charger Provides Electricity From Camp Fire

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Green Electronics, Thermoelectric on June 15, 2011

Hatsuden-Nabe is the name of a device that can charge up your cellphone by using wasted heat. It’s available in Japan since yesterday and it surely attracts a lot of hikers and adventurers, who think this could save their lonesome journeys.