Nanostructure Approach for High-performance Thermoelectrics, Photovoltaics, and Biosensing

COFFEE_KLATCH · Invited

Abstract

Nanomaterials have many potential applications in energy conversion systems due to their special structural and physical properties. Such applications often require materials manufacturing at large scale and low cost. In the first part of this talk, I will discuss the manufacturing of nanostructured bulk thermoelectric materials at large scale with improved thermoelectric properties. The materials were produced by a low cost ball milling and hot pressing process. The ball milling makes nanopowders in the quantities of up to multiple tons. Such nanopowders were then hot pressed by a direct current induced hot pressing into dense bulk materials. In the second part of this talk, I will demonstrate the concept and realization of nano coax cables that can be used for sub-wavelength light transmission and efficient solar conversion into electricity. In the last part of this talk, I will show a highly sensitive biosensor using aligned carbon nanotubes and gas sensors using nano coaxial cables.

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Authors

  • Richard D. Averitt

    Trinity College, Department of Physics, Joint appointment in Teacher Education, Wright State University, Graduate School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Littleton High School, Department of Physics, Boston College, Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, North Carolina State University, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, Harvard University, Department of Chemistry University of Massachusetts Amherst, Center for Advanced Materials and Department of Plastics Engineering University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Advanced Materials and Department of Physics and Applied Physics University of Massachusetts Lowell, RMD Inc., Watertown MA, UMass Lowell, Lowell MA, Radiation Monitoring Devices Inc., Watertown, MA, USA, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA, ANL, IL, UMass Lowell, Brown University / Department of Chemistry, Sciprint.org, Physics Department, LESIMS Laboratory, Badji Mokhtar University, 23000 Annaba, Algeria, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Physics Department, Boston University