Yuri Grin - Böcker

Increasing awareness and concern for energy resources and the environment have stimulated significant advances in materials and technology for energy conversion in recent years. This volume, the ninth in a popular series, focuses on novel materials, materials processing and device technologies for direct thermal-to-electric energy conversion, and emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of research needed to advance the field. The volume begins with an overview of the state of the art in high-temperature thermoelectric materials by Harald Böttner. The section on nanocomposite materials includes an overview on bulk nanostructured materials, one of the most highly investigated areas in the thermoelectric community, by Mildred Dresselhaus. A third overview article, by Peter Rogl, addresses the potential of inverse clathrates for thermoelectric applications. Additional topics include: applications and devices; nanocomposite and nanostructured materials; theoretical investigations; bulk materials and oxide materials.

Increasing awareness and concern for energy resources and the environment have stimulated significant advances in materials and technology for energy conversion in recent years. This volume, the ninth in a popular series, focuses on novel materials, materials processing and device technologies for direct thermal-to-electric energy conversion, and emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of research needed to advance the field. The volume begins with an overview of the state of the art in high-temperature thermoelectric materials by Harald Böttner. The section on nanocomposite materials includes an overview on bulk nanostructured materials, one of the most highly investigated areas in the thermoelectric community, by Mildred Dresselhaus. A third overview article, by Peter Rogl, addresses the potential of inverse clathrates for thermoelectric applications. Additional topics include: applications and devices; nanocomposite and nanostructured materials; theoretical investigations; bulk materials and oxide materials.

Symposium B, 'Thermoelectric Materials Research and Device Development for Power Conversion and Refrigeration', held from November 26-30 at the 2012 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, was the tenth in a series of symposia on state-of-the-art materials and technologies for direct thermal-to-electric energy conversion that produced proceedings with primary focus on material and technological advances of thermoelectrics and thermionics (see MRS Proceedings volumes 234, 478, 545, 626, 691, 793, 886, 1044 and 1166). In this symposium there were 263 contributed presentations, the largest by far at the MRS, including 10 invited talks and 168 poster presentations. These presentations were given from researchers from academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States, Asia and Europe. The symposia covered a broad range of topics in the areas of materials, measurement techniques, and device development. This volume provides an overview of the exciting recent developments in the field.

Starting with the pioneering work of Volta, Seebeck, and Peltier on thermoelectric phenomena, it takes the reader through a historical journey of articles and books that have shaped the field of thermoelectricity, covering topics ranging from fundamental physics to novel materials.