Invited Paper SU+AS+EM+MS-WeM3
Thermoelectrics for Sustainable Energy Harvesting

Wednesday, November 1, 2017, 8:40 am, Room 5 & 6

Thermoelectrics can convert heat to power. The key to this process is the combined electrical (high electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient) and thermal (low thermal conductivity) properties. Although thermoelectrics have been used commercially for more than 50 years, new materials with higher efficiency could make their use more widespread. A large fraction of energy consumed is actually wasted as heat, so efficient conversion of this waste heat to useable power would be a great advantage to humanity. After a general introduction to thermoelectrics, this presentation will focus on improvement of thermoelectrics via sustainable approaches, including consideration of sustainability of the elements, and recent work focusing on elements with high availability.