Cost-effectiveness had been a key goal for researchers at Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who announced in March that they have used nanotechnology to achieve a major increase in the thermoelectric efficiency of a bulk semiconductor alloy. The team's low-cost approach, details of which are published in the online version of the journal Science, involves building tiny alloy nanostructures that can serve as micro-coolers and power generators. The researchers said that in addition to being inexpensive, their method will likely result in practical, near-term enhancements to make products consume less energy or capture energy that would otherwise be wasted.
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