STTR Phase I: Development of super-efficiency thermoelectric generators and waste heat management with black metal and super-wicking surfaces

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将帮助建立一种商业上可行的方法，用于大规模生产高效热交换器，以促进热电太阳能电池和废热管理的快速发展。在这个项目中取得的进步将有助于从环境中收集大量的太阳能和热能。自然热源（太阳能、地热能等）和人造热源的热能是一种持续可用的、目前未充分利用的资源，有潜力成为可再生能源的重要支柱。太阳能热电装置需要最少的维护，适合在偏远地区部署。该项目的顺利完成将大大提高太阳能热电发电机的性能。除了利用太阳能，热电装置还可用于汽车尾气的废热回收，以及使用高温炉提高燃油效率和为汽车运行发电的工业。我们估计的结果可以将汽车发动机的燃油效率提高15- 20%，每年减少约670亿美元的汽油费用，每年减少约5700亿英镑的碳排放。这个项目的智力价值是开发一种颠覆性的技术来提高热电装置的效率。目前，由于缺乏理想的冷热端热交换器材料，热电器件的效率远低于其理论值。研究目标是将电流模块效率提高90%以上。该项目包括测试和验证热交换器的热电发电模块，用于太阳能发电和不同温度热源的废热管理，以及开发热交换器材料的大规模生产方法。处理过的表面的尺寸可以很好地控制，这使得为红外传感器和夜视摄像机制造微型太阳能热装置成为可能。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will help establish a commercially viable method for mass production of high-efficiency heat exchangers for the rapid advancement of thermoelectric solar cells and waste heat management. The advancement to be made in this project will help harvest an enormous amount of solar energy and heat energy from the environment. Thermal energy from natural (solar, geothermal etc.) as well as from man-made thermal sources is a continuously available, and currently underutilized resource with the potential to become an important pillar of renewable energy. The solar thermoelectric devices require minimal maintenance and are suitable for deployment in remote regions. The successful completion of this project will significantly improve the performance of solar thermoelectric generators. Besides harnessing solar energy, thermoelectric devices can also be used for waste heat recovery from automobile exhaust and industries using high-temperature furnaces to enhance fuel efficiency and generate electricity for automotive operations. Our estimated outcome can enhance the fuel efficiency of automobile engines by 15-20 %with around $67 billion annual reductions in gasoline expenses and around 570 billion pound reduction in annual carbon emission.The intellectual merit of this project is to develop a disruptive technology to improve the efficiency of thermoelectric devices. Currently, the efficiency of thermoelectric devices is much lower than their theoretical values due to the lack of ideal heat exchanger materials for both hot and cold ends. The research goal is to enhance current module efficiency by more than 90%. The project includes testing and validation of the heat exchanger into thermoelectric generation modules for solar electricity generation and waste heat management from thermal sources at different temperatures, as well as developing methods for mass production of heat exchanger materials. The size of the treated surfaces can be well controlled, making it possible to fabricate microscale solar thermal devices for infrared sensors and night vision cameras.