STTR Phase I: Bulk Nanostructured Thermoelectric Alloys for Enhanced Efficiency

小企业技术转移研究（STTR）第一阶段项目将联合收割机两类纳米复合材料和联合收割机结合成一个单一的散装材料组成部分的压力辅助烧结技术。 这两类材料分别表现出热电（TE）行为，本研究的一个目标是评估散装复合材料的综合TE特性。 TE材料具有从各种来源收集废热并将其用于将热能转化为电能的巨大潜力。 捕获这种替代能源是寻求化石燃料能源解决方案的一个主要问题。 以前的研究表明，薄膜中的TE材料在热捕获效率方面远远上级块状材料，因此，这项拟议的工作有可能提供一种可行的新能源。这项技术的广泛影响，如果成功开发和实施，将在许多领域产生重大影响，例如微电子中的固态冷却器。 非常需要提供现代微电子部件（例如，电子器件（例如，用于笔记本电脑和其他手持设备、红外成像系统、传感器的计算机芯片）、MEMS和NEMS设备以及设备尺寸随着功率密度持续增加而变小的其他应用。 实现所需的热提取效率的最大障碍是当前设备的低转换效率。 所提出的技术有希望通过使用新型双相纳米复合材料来实现这些目标。 微电子冷却器和热泵代表了一个重要的全球市场，如果成功，这项技术有可能占据这个市场的相当大的份额。

The Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I project will combine two classes of nanocomposite materials and combine them into a single bulk material component by pressure-assisted sintering technique. The two classes of materials individually exhibit thermoelectric (TE) behavior, and one goal of this research would be to evaluate the combined TE characteristics of the bulk composite. TE materials have great potential for harvesting waste heat from various sources and use it to convert the thermal energy into electricity. The capture of this alternative energy source is a major issue in the search for solutions to energy derived from fossil fuels. Previous research has shown that TE materials in the thin-film are far superior to bulk materials in their heat capture efficiency and, thus, this proposed work has the potential to provide a viable new source of power.The broader impacts of this technology, if successfully developed and implemented, would significantly impact in many areas, such as solid-state coolers in microelectronics. There is a great need to provide highly efficient cooling of modern microelectronic components (e.g., computer chip used in laptop computers and other hand held devices, IR imaging systems, sensors), MEMS and NEMS devices and other applications where the size of the device gets smaller as the power density continues to increase. The big hurdle in achieving the needed heat extraction efficiency has been the low conversion efficiency of current devices. The proposed technology has the promise of meeting these goals with the use of a novel dual-phase nanocomposite material. The microelectronic coolers and heat pumps represent a significant global market, and this technology has the potential to grab a sizable share of this market, if successful.