We have used HRTEM and STEM EDX to determine the important roles of endotaxial nanostructures in a lead-free thermoelectric (TE) material, SnCd0.03Te, with 2% CdS and 2% ZnS; where maximum ZTs of ~1.3 and ~1.1 are achieved at 873 K, respectively. TE materials convert wasted heat into electric energy. The conversion efficiency of TE materials is characterized by a dimensionless figure of merit Z...

To increase the efficiency and reduce emissions, the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), fuel cell vehicle (FCV), and electric vehicle (EV) types were developed. All these vehicle types rely on power electronics (PEs) to function. Yet, the reliability and performance of PEs are directly related to the operating temperature. Therefore, cooling is considered an option to reduce the operating temperatu...

the steady state effect of vertical fins is assessed on a photovoltaic/thermal solar air heater having a double pass configuration in which fins are placed in the lower channel perpendicular to the direction ofair flow. air passes through the upper channel of the air heater and before passing in the opposite direction through the lower channel. the effects of design, climatic and operating para...

The solid-state transformation phenomena of spinodal decomposition and nucleation and growth are presented as tools to create nanostructured thermoelectric materials with very low thermal conductivity and greatly enhanced figure of merit. The systems (PbTe)(1-x)(PbS)(x) and (Pb(0.95)Sn(0.05)Te)(1-x)(PbS)(x) are not solid solutions but phase separate into PbTe-rich and PbS-rich regions to produc...

background improving efficiency of health sector is of particular importance in all countries. to reach this end, it is paramount to measure the efficiency. on the other hand, there are many factors that affect the efficiency of health systems. this study aimed to measure the technical efficiency (te) of health systems in economic cooperation organization (eco) countries during 2004–10 and to d...

Metamaterial thermal emitters based on gold nanowire cavities on a gold substrate are designed to achieve a narrowband emission spectrum with the emission peak located slightly above the bandgap of photovoltaic (PV) cells, in order to improve the overall efficiency of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems. The metamaterial emitter made of gold nanowires embedded in an alumina host exhibits an effect...

Modelling of the effects of materials' microstructure on thermal transport is an essential tool for materials design, and is particularly relevant for thermoelectric (TE) materials converting heat into electrical energy. Precipitates dispersed in a TE matrix act as phonon-scattering centers, thereby reducing thermal conductivity. We introduce a practical approach to tailor a definite precipitat...

We use a state-of-the-art non-equilibrium quantum transport simulation code, NEMO1D, to address the device physics and performance benchmarking of cross-plane superlattice Peltier coolers. Our findings show quantitatively how barriers in cross-plane superlattices degrade the electrical performance, i.e. power factor. The performance of an In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.52Al0.48As cross-plane SL Peltier coo...

Increased absorption of transverse-magnetic (TM)-polarised light by a graphene-oxide (GO) coated polymer waveguide has been observed in the presence of transverse-electric (TE)-polarised light. The GO-coated waveguide exhibits very strong photo-absorption of TE-polarised light--and acts as a TM-pass waveguide polariser. The absorbed TE-polarised light causes a significant temperature increase i...

The aim of this study is to investigate the context by which veterinary services may affect technical efficiency (TE) of Iranian dairy farms. A data envelopment analysis (DEA) was applied to a random sample of 840 dairy farms from six provinces across Iran to estimate regional frontier and metafrontier production functions and also to calculate corresponding TE of these farms. The relationship ...