Scientists from The University of Manchester working with
European Thermodynamics Ltd have increased the potential for low cost
thermoelectric materials to be used more widely in the automotive industry.
Adding a small amount of graphene to the base oxide thermoelectric materials, operating
temperatures of which can be around 700 degrees Celsius, can reduce the thermal
operating window to room temperature which offers a huge range of potential for
applications.
The new material will
convert 3-5% of the heat into electricity. Taking into account that the average vehicle loses roughly 70% of
the energy supplied to it by its fuel to waste heat, recovering even a small
percentage of this with thermoelectric technology would be a great achievement.
Graphene was first isolated at the University of Manchester in 2004 and currently
the University is the home of graphene research with over 40 industrial
partners. Read more at http://www.sciencedaily.com/
