"We envision these thermopower wave devices enabling a new generation of energy sources by providing more power -- as much as ten times-- than smaller commercial batteries," said Dr. Michael Strano, MIT associate professor of chemical engineering.
Nextbigfuture covered the technical details and science behind thermopower waves before.
The waves may form the basis of new types of fuel cells that convert condensed liquid fuel into electrical energy in a continuous manner.Please read and share via NextBigFuture
A major challenge that the researchers faced was activating the devices without using too much energy. As a result, they explored different methods, including lasers, electrical sparks and direct heating from a resistor before they discovered the thermopower wave.
As they refine their mathematical description of the waves, the scientists are looking forward to exploring ways to develop thermopower wave devices that can use transportation fuels such as ethanol or formic acid. "Another important step for the researchers is to develop refueling systems that can cover the CNTs with more fuel so that the devices can be used more than once," Strano said. "This will greatly expand their potential applications."
