Thermoelectric Performance Study of Cost-Effective Lead Chalcogenides

Global warming and resource management is steadily becoming a more pressing world issue. The use of renewable energy is a solution to many of the world’s problems and if a useful renewable energy source is found, its application would potentially be immediate and widespread across the world. One of the biggest energy sources that could be harnessed is waste heat, which makes up around 70 per cent of the total energy produced by major industry in developed countries like the USA. Thermoelectric devices directly convert heat into electricity, making thermoelectric materials a promising research area for waste heat recovery. There are many advantages to solid state thermoelectric devices, such as requiring almost no maintenance, being reliable and they can be used in a small scale such as on space missions or on larger applications like industrial blast furnaces. Anywhere that there is waste heat, thermoelectric devices can be used to harness the energy and improve efficiency.