New thermoelectric nanomaterials can convert waste heat into electrical energy

Using an inexpensive nanomaterial developed by KAUST, machines and equipment can be recovered as a large amount of energy waste generated by heat emission. This thermoelectric nanomaterial can capture the heat lost from various devices such as mobile phones to car engines, and directly convert it into useful electrical energy (advanced energy materials, "cold quantum dots as low-temperature processing base materials for thermoelectric materials") .

The nanomaterial uses a low-temperature solution-based production process and is suitable for flexible plastic coatings almost anywhere.

Mohamad Nugraha, a postdoctoral researcher in Derya Baran ’s laboratory, said: “In many renewable energy sources, waste heat is not widely considered.” The properties of these substances mean that when one side of the material is hot and the other side is cold, Charge will accumulate along the temperature gradient.

This low-temperature method enables high-performance thermoelectric materials to regain lost energy.

So far, thermoelectric materials have been manufactured using expensive energy-intensive processes. Baran, Nugraha and their colleagues have developed a new thermoelectric material that is spin-wrapped by a liquid solution of nanomaterials called quantum dots.

The team coated a thin layer of lead sulfide quantum dots on the surface, and then added a solution of short linking ligands that cross-linked the quantum dots together to enhance the electronic properties of the material.