STTR Phase I: Bulk Nanostructured Thermoelectric Alloys for Enhanced Efficiency

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.