New Material Creates Electricity through Heat Difference

Engineers from the University of Utah created a revelation of a new material that could one day facilitate jewelry and body heat to generate enough electricity to power a body sensor, or enable a cooking pan to charge a cell phone. The team found that a combination of the chemical elements calcium, cobalt and terbium can create a powerful, inexpensive and bio-friendly material that can generate electricity through a thermoelectric process involving heat and cold air. The material is said to need less than a one-degree difference in temperature to produce a noticeable voltage.

For years’ researchers have been observing for the correct kind of material that makes the procedure more competent and produces more electricity, but other cadmium-, telluride- or mercury-based materials are toxic to humans. Professor Ashutosh Tiwari assured in his statement, “There are no toxic chemicals involved. It's very efficient and can be used for a lot of day-to-day applications."

According to the professor, the applications for this new material are endless. For example, it could be built into jewelry that uses body heat to power implantable medical devices such as blood-glucose monitors or heart monitors.

Airplanes could produce extra power by using heat from within the cabin versus the cold air outside. It could be used to charge mobile devices through cooking pans, or in cars where it draws from the heat of the engine. Power plants also could use the material to produce more electricity from the escaped heat the plant generates.

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