Thermoelectric device

Tellurium improves the machinability of copper and stainless steel, and its addition to lead decreases the corrosive action of sulfuric acid on lead and improves its strength and hardness. Tellurium is used as a basic ingredient in blasting caps, and is added to cast iron for chill control. Tellurium is used in ceramics. Bismuth telluride has been used in thermoelectric devices. 

Fig. 1. Schematic of a simple thermoelectric device having two thermocouples in series.

Thermoelectric devices represent niche markets, but as economic and environmental conditions continue to change, they appear poised to advance into more common use. Thermoelectric power generators are in use in many areas, including sateUites, deep-space probes, remote-area weather stations, undersea navigational devices, military and remote-area communications, and cathodic protection. 

AOT, could form w/c RMs in the presence of the commercially available perfluoropentanol (F-pentanol) as a co-surfactant, and the RMs formed could provide polar micro-aqueous for highly ionic chemicals[4,5]. Herein, we present the synthesis of crystalline nanoparticles of Ag, Agl, and Ag2S (which have potential application as photoelectric and thermoelectric devices) in the polar micro-aqueous domains of the w/c RMs stabilized by the AOT/F-pentanol (AOTF) surfactant/co-solvent combination, suggesting the possibility of the commercial utilization of SCCO2 in nanomaterials synthesis. 

Nelson, R. J., Paulus, A., Cohen, A. S., Guttman, A., and Karger, B. L., Use of Peltier thermoelectric devices to control column temperature in high-performance capillary electrophoresis, /. Chromatogr., 480, 111, 1989. 

Gd2(S04)3 8H2O is used in cryogenic work and in thermoelectric devices... 

Plutonium is the most important transuranium element. Its two isotopes Pu-238 and Pu-239 have the widest applications among all plutonium isotopes. Plutonium-239 is the fuel for nuclear weapons. The detonation power of 1 kg of plutonium-239 is about 20,000 tons of chemical explosive. The critical mass for its fission is only a few pounds for a solid block depending on the shape of the mass and its proximity to neutron absorbing or reflecting substances. This critical mass is much lower for plutonium in aqueous solution. Also, it is used in nuclear power reactors to generate electricity. The energy output of 1 kg of plutonium is about 22 million kilowatt hours. Plutonium-238 has been used to generate power to run seismic and other lunar surface equipment. It also is used in radionuclide batteries for pacemakers and in various thermoelectric devices. 

A major application of tellurium is in semiconductor research. Tellurides of lead and bismuth are used in thermoelectric devices for power generation and refrigeration. 

For ZT 1, Carnot efficiency is obtained for power generation and the Carnot limit to the COP is obtained for refrigeration. Materials currently used in thermoelectric devices have ZT values between 0.4 and 1.0. 

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