STTR Phase I: Post-Peltier Thermoelectrics for Power Generation

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目将开发一种可用于发电的新型热机。这些基于热释电材料薄膜的热力发动机执行传统热电的所有功能，但不受导热性和导电性之间的竞争的限制，这种竞争阻碍了高效Peltier器件的发展。这些“后珀尔帖热电”或薄膜热电发电机有可能提高效率并降低从废热中获取电力的成本。这种柔性、轻量和耐用的薄膜形式为利用从太阳光到汽车发动机的各种热源提供了许多新的机会。此外，类似的装置可用于节能制冷和冷却。一种薄膜热释电发生器，具有夹在两个薄膜热开关之间的一层热释电材料。薄膜热开关是一项必不可少的新技术，是第一阶段计划的主要重点。具有高热导率对比度的开关将使薄膜热释电发电机的性能优于依赖于珀耳帖效应或蒸汽压缩的传统技术。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于，它的成功将推出一种全新的能量收集方法。虽然许多技术部门受益于先进材料和信息处理的使用，但热管理和废热利用方面的进展远远落后。例如，今天的冷却设备主要依赖于几十年前的蒸汽压缩系统或Peltier热电设备。薄膜热释电发电是热机的一种新方法，它有可能远远超过传统的Peltier设备，同时抓住它们的优势，例如紧凑和没有移动部件。这些“后Peltier热电”的薄膜形式允许低成本制造，并产生了无数传统设备不可能实现的新应用。最终，这项技术可以创造大量的新产业，高薪工作，以及巨大的经济和环境节约。汽车制造商可以将薄膜能源收集装置集成到汽车散热器中，产生足够的电力，将整体效率提高5%以上，每年减少1亿桶外国石油的依赖。发电厂可以从热废水中提取额外的电能，使总发电量增加约1%，每年减少8亿吨碳排放。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will develop a new class of heat engines that can be used for electrical generation. These heat engines, which are based on thin films of pyroelectric materials, perform all the functions of conventional thermoelectrics, but are not constrained by the competition between thermal and electrical conductivity that has hampered the development of high-efficiency Peltier devices. These "post-Peltier thermoelectrics" or thin-film pyroelectric generators have the potential to improve the efficiency and lower the costs for harvesting electrical power from waste heat. The flexible, low-weight and durable thin-film format opens many new opportunities for exploiting a wide range of heat sources from sunlight to automobile engines. Additionally, similar devices can be used for energy efficient refrigeration and cooling. A thin-film pyroelectric generator has a layer of pyroelectric material sandwiched between two thin-film heat switches. The thin-film heat switches are an essential, new technology that is a major focus of this Phase I program. Switches with high-thermal-conductivity contrasts would enable thin-film pyroelectric generators to outperform conventional technologies that rely on the Peltier effect or on vapor compression.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that its success would launch an entirely new approach to energy harvesting. While many technology sectors benefit from advanced materials and the use of information processing, progress in thermal management and the exploitation of waste heat lags far behind. Today's cooling devices, for example, largely rely on decades-old vapor compression systems or Peltier thermoelectric devices. Thin-film pyroelectric electrical generation is a new approach to heat engines that has the potential to far outperform conventional Peltier devices while capturing their advantages, such as being compact and having no moving parts. The thin-film format of these "post-Peltier thermoelectrics" allows low-cost manufacturing and engenders countless new applications that would be impossible with conventional devices. Ultimately, this technology could create substantial new industries, well-paying jobs, and huge economic and environmental savings. Carmakers could incorporate thin-film energy scavenging devices into automobile radiators, generating enough power to increase the overall efficiency by more than 5% and reducing our dependence on foreign oil by 100 million barrels each year. Electric power plants could extract extra electrical energy from hot wastewater, increasing total power production by about 1% and cutting our annual carbon emissions by 800 million tons.