Thermoelectric Energy Conversion Lab
at the University of Cincinnati
Welcome to TEC Lab at UC!
Our group is dedicated to
Discovering new efficient thermoelectric materials based on inorganic, organic semiconductors and their composites
Understanding the fundamental electron and thermal transport phenomena in nanoscale materials and nanocomposites
Developing next-generation solid-state cooling and energy conversion systems, and
Improving the efficiencies of the state-of-the-art cooling and renewable energy systems
Group News
Feb. 6, 2023 Rajkumar joined TEC lab as a new M.S. student in Electrical Engineering. Welcome!
Jan. 8, 2023 Anirudh joined TEC lab as a new M.S. student in Mechanical Engineering. Welcome!
Nov. 25, 2023 Ahmad et al. on TE waste heat recovery from gas turbine was published in MDPI Entropy, and selected as a cover of Vol. 25, Issue 12. Big congrats!
Nov. 3, 2023 Dr. Kevin Walsh, Associate Dean of Engineering Research and Fife Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Louisville, visited UC for MME Distinguished Seminar and toured our labs/facilities including Digital Futures.
Oct. 24-25, 2023 Dr. Bahk attended IEEE PAINE 2023 in Huntsville, AL and served in the best paper award committee.
Oct. 16, 2023 Dr. Bahk visited Dr. Jeong-Hoi Koo's lab at Miami University and toured facilities/labs of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Department.
Oct. 13, 2023 Dr. Bahk gave a talk about his PRP-funded research on CNT fabric for firefighter jacket cooling (Nitin et al.) at the PRP Symposium 2023.
Oct. 1-3, 2023 Dr. Bahk attended MS&T 2023 in Columbus, OH.
Sep. 1, 2023 Isaac et al. on excluded volume for power factor enhancement was published in ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. Congrats!
Aug. 15, 2023 Dr. Bahk was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure.
Jul. 25-26, 2023 Dr. Bahk and Nilesh attended the 2023 NNCI Nano + Additive Manufacturing Summit held at Univ. Louisville, KY. Dr. Bahk served as an organizing committee member for the Summit, and Nilesh presented his research on 3-omega thermal characterization of nanocarbon-polymer composites.
Jun. 19 - Jul. 28, 2023 Jesús Fabián Macías Amador from Tecnol´ogico de Monterrey (ITESM), Mexico, visited TEC lab as a summer intern. We will miss you, Fabián!
Apr. 27, 2023 Isaac completed his Ph.D. study this semester, and attended the Spring 2023 Commencement! Hearty congratulations! See the pictures here.
Apr. 12, 2023 Dr. Bahk was selected as one of the 2023 URC Faculty Scholars Research Awardees. Congrats!
New Book: Thermoelectric Energy Conversion Devices and Systems (World Scientific, 2021)
Dr. Bahk, together with his collaborators, Dr. Yazawa and Dr. Shakouri, has published a new book on thermoelectric energy conversion technology with focus on system-level optimization and applications. Please click below for more infromation about the book from the publisher.
Research Highlight: Nanocarbon-based flexible thermoelectric materials
Please read our recent research highlight on nanocarbon-based flexible thermoelectric materials!
What is Thermoelectric Energy Conversion?
Thermoelectric energy conversion is a solid-state technology that converts heat into electricity. With this technology, waste heat from heat engines in vehicles or power plants can be partially recovered to generate extra electric power, thereby increasing the energy efficiency. When used on human body, human body-heat can be converted into electricity as well, which might be sufficient to power a small bio-medical sensor. You won't need a battery to power those devices anymore! For more information, read our recent review paper on wearable thermoelectric energy harvesting.
Another great example of utilizing thermoelectric energy conversion technology is Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) used in space probes such as Cassini and New Horizons. Find more information on the wikipedia page.
Thermoelectric devices have unique advantages such as
no moving parts, therefore noiseless and robust
directly converting heat to electricity or vice versa with no fluid involved
can be made flexible to conformally attach onto a curved surface
can be made very small at the micro/nano-scale with very high cooling power density