Researchers Push Forward on Tin Heat Harvesting Materials

SEATTLE (ITRI.CO.UK): Several teams of researchers have published new results for tin selenide heat harvesting materials that can be used to convert waste heat to electricity. Tin selenide has been known for some time to be the ‘most promising’ candidate for such materials but there has been a need to convert early theoretical work on expensive single crystals into practical products.

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University, US led a team that have started making new powder flakes doped with silver, boosting performance by ten times. A China team led by Chongqing University looked at doping with sodium and sulphur and researchers from Chung-Ang University, Korea added the tin into polymers to make new flexible heat harvesting materials.

This type of materials will be used in the future to capture heat, for example from car exhausts and industrial processes, and used in powering equipment such as wireless sensors and consumer electronics.

Courtesy: www. itri.co.uk