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Related Concept Videos

Heating and Cooling Curves02:44

Heating and Cooling Curves

When a substance—isolated from its environment—is subjected to heat changes, corresponding changes in temperature and phase of the substance is observed; this is graphically represented by heating and cooling curves.
For instance, the addition of heat raises the temperature of a solid; the amount of heat absorbed depends on the heat capacity of the solid (q = mcsolidΔT). According to thermochemistry, the relation between the amount of heat absorbed or released by a substance, q, and its...
Mechanism of heat transfer01:19

Mechanism of heat transfer

Understanding heat transfer mechanisms is essential for understanding how our bodies maintain balance in different environmental conditions. When the environment is thermoneutral, the body is in a state of balance, neither using nor releasing energy to maintain its core temperature. However, when the environment is not thermoneutral, the body employs four heat transfer mechanisms to maintain homeostasis: conduction, convection, evaporation, and radiation. These mechanisms facilitate heat...
Heat Engines01:10

Heat Engines

A heat engine is a device used to extract heat from a source and then convert it into mechanical work used for various applications. For example, a steam engine on an old-style train can produce the work needed for driving the train.
Whenever we consider heat engines (and associated devices such as refrigerators and heat pumps), we do not use the standard sign convention for heat and work. For convenience, we assume that the symbols Qh, Qc, and W represent only the amounts of heat transferred...
Refrigerators and Heat Pumps01:07

Refrigerators and Heat Pumps

Refrigerators or heat pumps are heat engines operating in a reverse direction. For a refrigerator, the focus is on removing heat from a specific area, whereas, for a heat pump, the focus is on dumping heat into one particular area. A refrigerator (or heat pump) absorbs heat Qc from the cold reservoir at Kelvin temperature Tc and discards heat Qh to the hot reservoir at Kelvin temperature Th, while work W is done on the engine’s working substance.
A household refrigerator removes heat from the...
Statements of the Second Law of Thermodynamics01:15

Statements of the Second Law of Thermodynamics

The second law of thermodynamics can be stated in several different ways, and all of them can be shown to imply the others. The Clausius’ statement of the second law of thermodynamics is based on the irreversibility of spontaneous heat flow. It states that heat will not flow from the colder body to the hotter body unless some other process is involved. Additionally, as per the Kelvin’s statement, it is impossible to convert the heat from a single source into work without any other effect. This...
Control of Power Flow01:30

Control of Power Flow

There are several methods to control power flow in power systems:

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Charge-density-wave-induced modifications to the quasiparticle self-energy in 2H- TaSe2

Physical review letters·2000
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Ca(11)N(6)(CN(2))(2) and Ca(4)N(2)(CN(2)): The True Nature of an "Unusual Binary Nitride" Is Finally Revealed.

Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)·2000
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Prediction of hospital readmission for heart failure: development of a simple risk score based on administrative data

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Ice Generation and the Heat and Mass Transfer Phenomena of Introducing Water to a Cold Bath of Brine
08:16

Ice Generation and the Heat and Mass Transfer Phenomena of Introducing Water to a Cold Bath of Brine

Published on: March 13, 2017

Thermoelectric cooling and power generation

DiSalvo1

  • 1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|July 31, 1999
PubMed
Summary

Thermoelectric devices use charge carriers to cool or generate electricity. Improving thermoelectric materials could enhance electronics cooling and energy applications.

Area of Science:

  • Solid State Physics
  • Materials Science
  • Energy Conversion

Background:

  • Thermoelectric devices utilize junctions of dissimilar conducting materials to exploit charge carrier behavior.
  • These devices operate on the principle of charge carriers (holes and electrons) moving away from a junction to transfer heat or generate electricity.
  • Current applications are limited by low efficiencies, primarily used in niche areas like laser diode cooling.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the fundamental principles governing thermoelectric device operation.
  • To explore strategies for enhancing the efficiency of novel thermoelectric materials.
  • To identify potential benefits of improved thermoelectric materials for electronics cooling and energy generation.

Main Methods:

  • Review of established thermoelectric principles and device physics.

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Asymmetric Thermoelectrochemical Cell for Harvesting Low-grade Heat under Isothermal Operation
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Asymmetric Thermoelectrochemical Cell for Harvesting Low-grade Heat under Isothermal Operation

Published on: February 5, 2020

Thermal Behavior and Power Efficiency Comparison of AC vs. DC Electrical Heating in a Distillation Column Using Infrared Thermography Analysis
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Thermal Behavior and Power Efficiency Comparison of AC vs. DC Electrical Heating in a Distillation Column Using Infrared Thermography Analysis

Published on: December 5, 2025

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Ice Generation and the Heat and Mass Transfer Phenomena of Introducing Water to a Cold Bath of Brine
08:16

Ice Generation and the Heat and Mass Transfer Phenomena of Introducing Water to a Cold Bath of Brine

Published on: March 13, 2017

Asymmetric Thermoelectrochemical Cell for Harvesting Low-grade Heat under Isothermal Operation
09:09

Asymmetric Thermoelectrochemical Cell for Harvesting Low-grade Heat under Isothermal Operation

Published on: February 5, 2020

Thermal Behavior and Power Efficiency Comparison of AC vs. DC Electrical Heating in a Distillation Column Using Infrared Thermography Analysis
06:21

Thermal Behavior and Power Efficiency Comparison of AC vs. DC Electrical Heating in a Distillation Column Using Infrared Thermography Analysis

Published on: December 5, 2025

  • Exploration of material science strategies for efficiency improvement.
  • Analysis of potential applications in advanced electronics, refrigeration, and waste heat recovery.

    • Main Results:

    • Thermoelectric devices offer solid-state cooling and power generation without moving parts.
    • Low efficiency is a significant barrier to widespread adoption.
    • Novel materials offer pathways to substantially increase thermoelectric performance.

    Conclusions:

    • Enhanced thermoelectric materials are crucial for advancing electronics thermal management.
    • Improved thermoelectric devices can unlock significant energy benefits in refrigeration and waste heat utilization.
    • Further research into material science is key to realizing the full potential of thermoelectric technology.