Environmentally friendly thermoelectric material: A new thermoelectric material under development is indium-doped tin telluride

摘要

THE EMPHASIS ON IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF AUTOMOBILES and industrial machinery is leading researchers to look for ways to take advantage of the heat lost during such processes as combustion. This trend has prompted an examination of thermoelectric materials that can produce electricity from waste heat. These materials function through a temperature difference or the use of an electric potential to create a temperature difference. Zhifeng Ren, Anderson Chair Professor of Physics at the University of Houston, says, "A thermoelectric material has to be good at electron transport or provide good electrical conductivity while minimizing thermal conductivity."