Project CNS2022-135302 (TERMADES)
Enhancing the thermoelectric efficiency of materials by decoupling of their thermal and electrical properties
The idea of the project...
The main objective of TERMADES is the design of new sustainable materials with high thermoelectric efficiency. Thermoelectric devices can be applied for the transformation of waste heat into electrical energy (Seebeck effect), since it is estimated that more than 60% of the energy generated is lost as heat. They can also be used as cooling systems - direct conversion of electricity into cold (Peltier effect). Improving the thermoelectric efficiency of materials, to produce a new generation of commercial devices, is currently a challenge, since it requires new phases that present the difficult combination of high electrical conductivity, typical of metals, together with a high Seebeck coefficient and low thermal conductivity, typical of non-metallic systems.
Materials to study...
New Phonon-Glass Electron Crystal (PGEC) systems.
