Earth-Abundant Fe–Al–Si Thermoelectric (FAST) Materials: from Fundamental Materials Research to Module Development

Nanostructured Thermoelectric Materials: From Superlattices to Nanocomposites

Energy transport in nanostructures differs significantly from macrostructures because of classical and quantum size effects on energy carriers. Experimental results show that the thermal conductivity values of nanostructures such as superlattices are significantly lower than that of their bulk constituent materials. The reduction in thermal conductivity led to a large increase in the thermoelec...

Thin Film Solar Cells Using Earth-Abundant Materials

Porous Thermoelectric Materials

Thermoelectric materials are sometimes prepared using a sintering process in which the achievement of a high density is often one of the objectives. However, it has recently been shown that the introduction of a highly porous material is desirable in synthetic transverse thermoelements. Porosity may also be an advantage in conventional longitudinal thermoelectric modules in which a high thermal...

Development of a Research Plan to Minimize Thermal Conductivity in Low Temperature Thermoelectric Materials

The Significance of Fundamental Granular Materials Research to Space Exploration

Granular materials are ubiquitous on Earth and in space. Because condensed planets and their satellites are chiefly made up of solids, any mission landing on their surface must establish how to deal with the technological obstacles they present [1]. Sample return missions to distant objects require a strategy for extracting solids, and possibly processing them to liberate valuable components su...