UK Precision Engineering Chard Somerset & Exeter Devon

New Records from a 3D-printed Thermoelectric device

The Specific Innovation and Knowledge Centre at Swansea University claims that they have been able to produce a thermoelectric device that is approximately 50 percent more efficient than a standard device. The team added additve manufacturing techniques to a standard thermoelectric device which not only can prove to reach this new record, but will still be cheap enough to produce in bulk.

Created using Tin Selenide, the device has a high potential for thermoelectric behaviour.

Industries that could benefit from such materials include steelmaking, which generates huge amounts of heat and also requires electrical power. Tata Steel is about to support a PhD researcher on the Swansea team to explore the industrial applications of their technology.

“Turning waste heat into electrical power can boost energy efficiency significantly, cutting bills and reducing carbon emissions. Our findings show that printed thermoelectric materials using tin selenide are a very promising way forward,” said Carnie.

“The device we developed is the best-performing printed thermoelectric material recorded to date, with the efficiency factor improved by over 50 per cent compared to the previous record. It is also cheap to produce in bulk compared with established manufacturing methods. More work is needed, but already our work shows that this technique, combining efficiency and economy, could be very attractive to energy-intensive industries.”

You can read more here: The Engineer
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