Posted in | News | Nanoenergy

Researchers Develop Nanomaterial to Recycle Waste Heat

Research teams at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have collaborated with the University of Wollongong, Australia to develop a nanomaterial to collect wasted heat from industrial processes and electrical devices and convert it into electricity.

Engineering researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed new thermoelectric nanomaterials, pictured above, that could lead to techniques for better capturing and putting this waste heat to work.

The process of recycling heat offers great potential for harvesting power and increasing the efficiency of all electrical devices. The process of recycling heat requires a material that has high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity.

Researchers at RPI have discovered that zinc oxide can be used for this process. However, zinc oxide naturally has high levels of both electrical and thermal conductivity. This quality can prove to be a hindrance in converting waste heat to electricity as lowering one property of the material without affecting the other is a very difficult process. Researchers have addressed this problem by adding tiny amounts of aluminium to zinc oxide and processing the combined materials in a regular microwave oven. Through this method, the research team was able to create enough nanomaterial that can be used to make a miniature equipment measuring a few centimetres. Instead of the regular methods where nanomaterials are created on substrates, the new inexpensive process has the ability to create pellets of the nanomaterial that can in turn be a used on any surface.

This method can also be scaled up for industrial production to create greener power plants, aircrafts, cars and other systems and devices. The research was funded by IBM, University of Wollongong, Australian Research Council, Rensselaer Nanotechnology Centre and S3TEC which is US Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Science funded Energy Frontier Research Centre

Citations

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

  • APA

    Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. (2019, February 12). Researchers Develop Nanomaterial to Recycle Waste Heat. AZoNano. Retrieved on December 07, 2024 from https://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=23516.

  • MLA

    Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. "Researchers Develop Nanomaterial to Recycle Waste Heat". AZoNano. 07 December 2024. <https://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=23516>.

  • Chicago

    Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. "Researchers Develop Nanomaterial to Recycle Waste Heat". AZoNano. https://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=23516. (accessed December 07, 2024).

  • Harvard

    Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 2019. Researchers Develop Nanomaterial to Recycle Waste Heat. AZoNano, viewed 07 December 2024, https://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=23516.

Tell Us What You Think

Do you have a review, update or anything you would like to add to this news story?

Leave your feedback
Your comment type
Submit

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.