
Prof. Ernst Bauer in the lab
Credit TU Wein
A new type of material generates electrical current very efficiently from temperature differences. This allows sensors and small processors to supply themselves with energy wirelessly.
Thermoelectric materials can convert heat into electrical energy. This is due to the so-called Seebeck effect: If there is a temperature difference between the two ends of such a material, electrical voltage can be generated and current can start to flow. The amount of electrical energy that can be generated at a given temperature difference is measured by the so-called ZT value: The higher the ZT value of a material, the better its thermoelectric properties.
The best thermoelectrics to date were measured at ZT values of around 2.5 to 2.8. Scientists at TU Wien (Vienna) have now succeeded in developing a completely new material with a ZT value of 5 to 6. It is a thin layer of iron, vanadium, tungsten and aluminium applied to a silicon crystal.
The new material is so effective that it could be used to provide energy for sensors or even small computer processors. Instead of connecting small electrical devices to cables, they could generate their own electricity from temperature differences. The new material has now been presented in the journal “Nature”.
Electricity and Temperature
“A good thermoelectric material must show a strong Seebeck effect, and it has to meet two important requirements that are difficult to reconcile,” says Prof. Ernst Bauer from the Institute of Solid State Physics at TU Wien. “On the one hand, it should conduct electricity as well as possible; on the other hand, it should transport heat as poorly as possible. This is a challenge because electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity are usually closely related.”
At the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Thermoelectricity, which Ernst Bauer established at TU Wien in 2013, different thermoelectric materials for different applications have been studied over the last few years. This research has now led to the discovery of a particularly remarkable material – a combination of iron, vanadium, tungsten and aluminium.
“The atoms in this material are usually arranged in a strictly regular pattern in a so-called face-centered cubic lattice,” says Ernst Bauer. “The distance between two iron atoms is always the same, and the same is true for the other types of atoms. The whole crystal is therefore completely regular”.
However, when a thin layer of the material is applied to silicon, something amazing happens: the structure changes radically. Although the atoms still form a cubic pattern, they are now arranged in a space-centered structure, and the distribution of the different types of atoms becomes completely random. “Two iron atoms may sit next to each other, the places next to them may be occupied by vanadium or aluminum, and there is no longer any rule that dictates where the next iron atom is to be found in the crystal,” explains Bauer.
This mixture of regularity and irregularity of the atomic arrangement also changes the electronic structure, which determines how electrons move in the solid. “The electrical charge moves through the material in a special way, so that it is protected from scattering processes. The portions of charge travelling through the material are referred to as Weyl Fermions,” says Ernst Bauer. In this way, a very low electrical resistance is achieved.
Lattice vibrations, on the other hand, which transport heat from places of high temperature to places of low temperature, are inhibited by the irregularities in the crystal structure. Therefore, thermal conductivity decreases. This is important if electrical energy is to be generated permanently from a temperature difference – because if temperature differences could equilibrate very quickly and the entire material would soon have the same temperature everywhere, the thermoelectric effect would come to a standstill.
Electricity for the Internet of Things
“Of course, such a thin layer cannot generate a particularly large amount of energy, but it has the advantage of being extremely compact and adaptable,” says Ernst Bauer. “We want to use it to provide energy for sensors and small electronic applications.” The demand for such small-scale generators is growing quickly: In the “Internet of Things”, more and more devices are linked together online so that they automatically coordinate their behavior with each other. This is particularly promising for future production plants, where one machine has to react dynamically to another.
“If you need a large number of sensors in a factory, you can’t wire all of them together. It’s much smarter for the sensors to be able to generate their own power using a small thermoelectric device,” says Bauer.
Learn more: New Material Breaks World Record Turning Heat into Electricity
The Latest on: Thermoelectric materials
- Researchers develop elastomeric thermoelectric generatoron November 22, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Until now, most thermoelectric generators used hard ceramic PCB making it difficult to apply them to curved surfaces such as skin or hot water pipes. To solve this problem, flexible materials such as ...
- Researchers devised worlds' most efficient thermoelectric harvesteron November 22, 2023 at 7:52 am
Researchers innovated a stretchable thermoelectric generator with a skin-attachable gasket, enhancing energy production through "mechanical metamaterials." ...
- Researchers develop a stretchable and efficient wearable thermoelectric energy harvesteron November 21, 2023 at 7:29 am
Dr. Hyekyoung Choi and Min Ju Yun's research team from the Energy Conversion Materials Research Center, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI), has developed a technology that can increase ...
- Mechanical metamaterials boost flexible thermoelectric generators to record 35% stretchabilityon November 20, 2023 at 4:00 pm
(Nanowerk News) A team of Dr. Hyekyoung Choi and Min Ju Yun of Energy Conversion Materials Research Center, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) has developed a technology that can ...
- Editors’ Showcase 2023: Thermoelectric Materialson November 14, 2023 at 4:00 pm
We are pleased to present this collection dedicated to highlighting the research of our Editorial Board, entitled “Editors’ Showcase 2023: Thermoelectric Materials”. This exclusive collection is open ...
- Thermoelectric Materials: Advances and Applications - Hardcoveron November 13, 2023 at 8:46 pm
Environmental and economic concerns have significantly spurred the search for novel, high-performance thermoelectric materials for energy conversion in small-scale power generation and refrigeration ...
- Thermoelectric Power Generationon October 10, 2023 at 10:40 pm
Thermoelectric materials can be employed to develop thermoelectric power generation modules used to convert heat flow into electricity without any moving parts. Increasing the efficiency of these ...
- Complex thermoelectric materialson June 26, 2023 at 12:14 am
Thermoelectric materials, which can generate electricity from waste heat or be used as solid-state Peltier coolers, could play an important role in a global sustainable energy solution.
via Bing News
The Latest on: Electricity for the Internet of Things
- Virtual Power Plants: The Next Operational Model for Electricity Generationon December 1, 2023 at 12:26 am
DERs like electric vehicles (EVs), solar ... utilities to control these devices for DER programs through nuanced device control, enabled by Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Utilizing this ...
- What is between Grid of Things (GoT) and Internet of Things (IoT) is HoT (Holistically Orchestrated Things)on November 30, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Industrial, commercial, consumer and community use of the Internet of Things (IoT) represent another interesting ... intelligent lighting assets are a natural location for electric vehicle charging ...
- Internet of Things and Solving Latency For an Instantaneous Worldon November 26, 2023 at 4:01 pm
We have all heard about the impending Internet of Things (IoT) revolution. As a matter of fact, such talk has been going on for many years. Even as far back as 1966 when German computer scientist Karl ...
- 'Indoor solar' to power the Internet of Thingson November 8, 2023 at 4:00 pm
the so-called Internet of Things brings personalization and convenience to devices that help run homes. But with that comes tangled electrical cords or batteries that need to be replaced.
- Electric, internet of things, monitor iconon September 21, 2022 at 10:40 pm
Use it commercially. No attribution required. Ready to use in multiple sizes Modify colors using the color editor 1 credit needed as a Pro subscriber. Download with ...
- Pictures Of Things That Use Electricity Pictures stock illustrationson April 18, 2021 at 1:37 pm
Browse 9,500+ pictures of things that use electricity pictures stock illustrations and vector graphics available royalty-free, or start a new search to explore more great stock images and vector art.
- Gas, electricity and interneton April 24, 2020 at 12:20 pm
Alberta’s deregulated electricity market began in 1996, when the Electric Utilities Act came into effect.
- Pictures Of Things That Use Electricity stock illustrationson November 9, 2017 at 12:05 am
Browse 9,500+ pictures of things that use electricity stock illustrations and vector graphics available royalty-free, or start a new search to explore more great stock images and vector art. light ...
- How Things Work: Solar Electricityon April 6, 2011 at 4:30 am
It is this flow of electrons that creates electric current. The energy that could be derived in this way is truly impressive. Approximately 120,000 terawatts (TW or trillion Watts) of sunlight strike ...
via Bing News