Vertography » tellurium http://blog.vertography.com Simplifying the green life Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:46:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 New Thermoelectric Material http://blog.vertography.com/2008/07/31/new-thermoelectric-material/ http://blog.vertography.com/2008/07/31/new-thermoelectric-material/#comments Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:00:11 +0000 john http://blog.vertography.com/?p=103 CleanTechnica reports that scientists have invented a new material capable of generating electricity from heat.

The material they invented is tellurium-doped lead telluride, and it is twice as efficient as the second most efficient material used in thermoelectric power. It also generates electricity directly, unlike other thermoelectric solutions which use a fluid to collect the heat.

Waste Heat
Interestingly, the new material is most effective between 450°F and 950°F – the typical operating temperature range of car engines. Some experts claim that as much as 60% of the energy produced by an internal combustion engine is lost through heat. Adding a simple thermoelectric device like this to a car’s exhaust system would allow for some of that wasted heat energy to be collected.

One potential downside to the material is that it is made of toxic compounds, so special care would be needed in manufacture, maintenance and disposal.

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