Scientists from the National University of Science and Technology MISIS in Moscow have developed a durable and inexpensive thermoelectric material that can convert heat into electricity. It could play an important role in increasing the efficiency of engines, as well as cooling and heat recovery systems in industrial applications.
These so-called thermoelectric materials are used in power engineering, electronics and in the automotive and aerospace industries, where temperature differences make it possible to convert excess heat into energy. As a rule, thermoelectric materials are produced from rare and expensive chemical elements using complex and costly technologies. In addition, they are often fragile and short-lived, which limits their use in real conditions. The Moscow-based researchers have found a way to streamline the production of the material and make it more reliable by using synthetic skutterudite and zinc oxide.
Skutterudite is a rare natural mineral, which is why its laboratory counterpart is used in industry more often. It is more accessible, cheaper and has a higher purity. It is usually synthesized from indium, cobalt and antimony, but the process is complex and time-consuming, causing these materials to often remain in laboratories instead of reaching real production. The researchers from MISIS have solved this problem: they melted a mixture of metals using induction heating, crushed the mixture and sintered it together with zinc oxide.
The addition of zinc oxide slightly reduced the efficiency of converting heat into electricity, but increased the strength of the material by 18%. According to the researchers’ calculations, this mechanical resistance offsets the small decrease in energy efficiency.
Based on the results of the experiments, the scientists came to the conclusion that the new material can be used in various industries, from transport to heavy industry, making it possible to convert heat that would have been lost into useful electricity.
