Researchers have highlighted that good thermoelectric materials are those that conduct electricity well on the one hand, but transport heat as poorly as possible on the other – an apparent contradiction, as good electrical conductors are generally also good conductors of heat.
Scientists try to suppress heat transport through lattice vibrations
“In solid matter, heat is transferred both by mobile charge carriers and by vibrations of the atoms in the crystal lattice. In thermoelectric materials, we mainly try to suppress heat transport through the lattice vibrations, as they do not contribute to energy conversion,” said first author Fabian Garmroudi, who obtained his doctorate at TU Wien.