Published By National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Issued over 9 years ago
US
beta
Summary
Description
<p>In this work we will: 1) develop novel TE materials&nbsp; with a factor of 2x or more improvement in the dimensionless TE figure of merit (ZT) over state-of-the-art materials in cryogenic environments (100K-300K range) ; and 2) validate the novel materials performance using proof-of-concept power generation TE devices to demonstrate their potential to achieve 15 to 25% conversion efficiency (up to 4x state-of-practice systems) when using low grade heat sources, Radioisotope Heater Unit (RHU)-based or single General Purpose Heat sources (GPHS), and rejecting heat at cryogenic temperatures.</p>