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High-Power Thermoelectric Generator Utilizes Thermal Difference of Only 5C (newelectronics.co.uk)

A silicon-nanowire thermoelectric generator has been developed by a team of researchers from Waseda University, Osaka University, and Shizuoka University. From a report: According to the Japanese researchers, this experimentally demonstrated a high-power density of 12 microwatts per 1cm2, enough to drive sensors or realise intermittent wireless communication, at a small thermal difference of only 5C. Silicon-based thermoelectric generators conventionally employed long, silicon nanowires of about 10-100nm, which were suspended on a cavity to cut off the bypass of the heat current and secure the temperature difference across the silicon nanowires. However, the cavity structure weakened the mechanical strength of the devices and increased the fabrication cost. The team says their generator has overcome this issue.

"Because our generator uses the same technology to manufacture semiconductor integrated circuits, its processing cost could be largely cut through mass production," says Professor Takanobu Watanabe of Waseda University. "Also, it could open up a pathway to various, autonomously-driven IoT devices utilising environmental and body heats. For instance, it may be possible to charge your smartwatch during your morning jog someday."

7 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Forget 5C, how about higher differentials? by ZorinLynx · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Being able to efficiently convert heat into energy is a holy grail. Are these TEGs better than previous tech when you have large differentials?

  2. 12 uW/cm^2 isn't much by Nutria · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Unless my math is wrong, that's less than an eighth of a watt per square meter.

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    1. Re:12 uW/cm^2 isn't much by Zocalo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Depends on what OP meant by "intermittent". There are plenty of telemetry sensors that only need to transmit a tiny amount of data at intervals in excess of an hour, or in the event of a given condition being met, for which 12 uW/cm^2 might be more than enough to charge up a battery or capacitor with enough juice to do so when the time comes.

      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    2. Re:12 uW/cm^2 isn't much by DrTJ · · Score: 4, Informative

      "experimentally demonstrated a high-power density of 12 microwatts per 1cm2"

      Somebody need to work on their adjectives. Solar panels are in the order of 10-20 mW/cm, i.e. 1000x more.

      If 12 uW/cm qualifies as "high-power density", then solar panels must be "super-power density".

      Maybe the researchers are from Krypton.

  3. I already charge my smartwatch while jogging. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I just leave it at home on the charger.

  4. Re:Trump will die in Federal Prison by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You don't want Trump to die. You want Trump to live a long, healthy life, completely and totally discredited and disgraced, and never forgotten as the liar, cheat, and villian that he is. You want him to be a constant reminder to everyone of all the evil selfish destructive things he's done, and be punished for it until his last breath is drawn, and then only when he's died of purely natural causes and is put in the ground (face down, preferably), forever immortalized in the history books as the worst president the United States has ever had, an example to all future candidates of what not to be when you're sitting in the Oval Office, and a warning to future generations of the GOP.

  5. Doesn't take much by foxalopex · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have a solar powered Casio watch that does atomic clock synchronization every day. It's pretty cool in that it keeps very accurate time and has been running for years and years. All it needs is some ambient office lighting to keep it charged everyday. I've heard the rechargable lithium battery will eventually wear out however.