Thermoelectric materials can be used to turn waste heat into
electricity or to provide refrigeration without any liquid coolants, and a
research team from the University of Michigan has found a way to nearly double
the efficiency of a particular class of them that's made with organic
semiconductors.
Organic semiconductors are carbon-rich compounds that are relatively
cheap, abundant, lightweight and tough. But they haven't traditionally been
considered candidate thermoelectric materials because they have been
inefficient in carrying out the essential heat-to-electricity conversion
process.