|
|
|
|
|
Symposium FE
Advances in Materials and Technologies for Efficient Direct Thermal-to-Electrical Energy Conversion Advisory Board Invited Lectures This symposium will explore state-of-the-art thermoelectric, thermoionic and thermophotovoltaic materials and technologies for direct thermal to electric energy conversion. Material and device designs directed to optimise efficiency and cost/performance aspects of direct thermal-to-electric conversion will be enlightened with emphasis on tailoring engineering electrical, thermal and optical properties to the demand coming from applications. Focus will be on direct conversion into electricity of the waste heat emitted by a number of sources such as industrial furnaces, power plants, automobile exhausts, geothermal heat sources, and of the thermal energy harvested from the warmth of sun’s rays. Covered will be materials issues such as : theoretical studies on band structure, crystal chemistry, transport properties, energy transfer processes, etc.; novel synthesis and processing routes for polycrystalline and single crystal bulk materials, nanostructured materials, 3-D architectures, composites and nanocomposites; low dimensionality structures such as thin films, superlattices, quantum dots and nanofibers; advanced characterisation of electrical, optical, thermal and mechanical properties. Device design and performance and system integration will be enlightened for ongoing or forthcoming applications in a range of energy conversion technologies ,i.e. from the order of several kilowatt that one expects to recover from the waste heat of industrial and power plants, to the intermediate range of hundred watt involved in automobile systems or deep-space probes, to remote self-powered systems for wireless communications in the microwatt power range. Emerging ideas and proposal studies of novel concepts for direct thermal-to-electrical energy conversion working in tandem with other energy conversion technologies (i.e. fuel cells, PV-TE hybrid systems, etc.) will be interesting topics to enrich the debate. Sessions topics
Band structure
Crystal chemistry Transport properties Energy transfer processes Nanoscale induced effects Modeling and simulation FE-2 New and Improved Materials and Low Dimensionality Structures
TE materials, i.e. half-Heusler alloys, clathrades, skutterudites, oxides, silicides zintls, other high temperature materials
Materials for thermionic applications, i.e. embedded q-dot structures, wide band gap semiconductors, etc. Emitter materials and PV diode materials for thermophotovoltaics Polycrystalline and single crystal high efficiency bulk materials Thin films and superlattices Nanostructured materials and nanostructures Composites and nanocomposites Functionally graded materials Materials synthesis and processing Electrical/optical/thermal properties Structural and mechanical characterisation Process modeling and simulation New testing methods at nanoscale FE-3 Progress in Devices and Applications
Device design, fabrication, integration, packaging , testing
Cost/performance and reliability issues System simulation and demonstration Intermediate power, micro-power and high-power applications Novel and emerging approaches for thermal-to-electrical conversion systems Commercialisation and market prospects |