Focus

Thermoelectric Materials for the direct conversion of heat into electric current

The FAST SMART project's overall concept is centred on the synthesis of nano-structured smart materials and component manufacturing for energy harvesting applications to significantly improve the material quality, reduce overall materials usage and processing costs, through improving material manufacturing efficiency, (being focused on less and free rare-element dependence materials), as well as on new energy harvester designs considering environmental impact (greenhouse gas emission down by 50%, waste reduction by 50%).
The main driver of the proposal lies in a need to meet challenges, particularly for the development and applications of Piezoelectric (PE) and Thermoelectric (TE) materials, associated structures and systems for new generation energy harvesters, and for dealing with energy generation, storage and uses related issues with a systematic approach, and hence, to help to meet EU’s targets on the social, economic and environmental developments.
In this context, MBN has developed Magnesium-based thermoelectric materials, as well as Half-Heusler alloys free of critical elements, such as Hafnium. These materials will be used in devices dedicated to energy recovery that can be installed in means of transport, such as cars or trains, or in the recovery of heat deriving from the energy dispersion of photovoltaic panels, or in other situations in which residual heat can be advantageously recovered in electrical energy.