Advances In Nanomaterials - Silicon Nanomesh Demonstrated As Thermal Conductivity Barrier For Improving Thermoelectrics

Thermoelectric materials have great promise - if they can be made relatively simply and with inexpensive, safe materials. Just imagine the endless list of applications where waste heat energy could be converted to electrical energy. One problem, however, is that when the thermal conductivity of a material increases, its electrical conductivity tends to decrease. This lack of independence becomes a major problem when scientists and engineers are trying to develop more efficient thermoelectric devices.