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Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been shown to be efficient in energy harvesting. Here, we report utilization of waste heat to generate electricity via combined piezoelectric and triboelectric property of 2D Cobalt Telluride (CoTe2). The…
Traditional thermoelectric Peltier coolers exhibit a cooling limit which is primarily determined by the figure of merit, zT. Rather than a fundamental thermodynamic limit, this bound can be traced to the difficulty of maintaining…
Near-field thermophotovoltaic systems functioning at 400$\sim$900~K based on graphene-hexagonal-boron-nitride heterostructures and thin-film InSb $p$-$n$ junctions are investigated theoretically. The performances of two near-field systems…
We report experimental observation of an unexpectedly large thermopower in mesoscopic two-dimensional (2D) electron systems on GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures at sub-Kelvin temperatures and zero magnetic field. Unlike conventional non-magnetic…
Thermal emission is typically associated with a blackbody at a temperature above absolute zero, which exchanges energy with its environment in the form of radiation. Blackbody thermal emission is largely incoherent both spatially and…
Graphene---hexagonal-boron-nitride---InSb near-field structures are designed and optimized to enhance the output power and energy efficiency of the thermophotovoltaic systems working in the temperature range of common industrial waste heat,…
Efficient thermoelectric materials are highly desirable, and the quest for finding them has intensified as they could be promising alternatives to fossil energy sources. Here we present a general first-principles approach to predict, in…
The impact of liquid drops onto solid surfaces leads to conversion of kinetic energy of directed drop motion into various forms of energy including surface energy, vibrational energy, heat, and under suitable conditions, electrical energy.…
This manuscript reports a semiconductor-sensitized thermal cell (STC) that converts ambient heat into electrical power while simultaneously reducing its own temperature under isothermal conditions. Using a printable…
Theoretical thermoelectric nanophysics models of low-dimensional electronic heat engine and refrigerator devices, comprising two-dimensional hot and cold reservoirs and an interconnecting filtered electron transport mechanism have been…
Semiconductor emitter can possibly achieve sharp cutoff wavelength due to its intrinsic bandgap absorption and almost zero sub-bandgap emission without doping. A germanium wafer based selective emitter with front-side antireflection and…
Through passively emitting excess heat to the outer space, radiative cooling has been demonstrated as an efficient way for energy saving applications. Selective surface with unity emittance only within the atmospheric window as well as zero…
Nanophotonic engineering of light-matter interaction at subwavelength scale allows thermal radiation that is fundamentally different from that of traditional thermal emitters and provides exciting opportunities for various thermal-photonic…
The efficiency and cooling power of a two-terminal thermoelectric refrigerator are analyzed near the limit of vanishing dissipation (ideal system), where the optimal efficiency is the Carnot one, but the cooling power then unfortunately…
A promising scheme for electron microrefrigeration based on ferromagnet-superconductor contacts is presented. In this setup, cooling power densities up to 600 nW/$\mu$m$^2$ can be achieved leading to electronic temperature reductions…
We theoretically study hot electron generation through the emission of a dipole source coupled to a nanoresonator on a metal surface. In our hybrid approach, we solve the time-harmonic Maxwell's equations numerically and apply a quantum…
Optimal cooling that minimises thermal gradients and the average temperature is essential for enhanced battery safety and health. This work presents a new modelling approach for battery cells of different shapes by integrating Chebyshev…
The thermoelectric effect is the generation of an electrical voltage from a temperature gradient in a solid material due to the diffusion of free charge carriers from hot to cold. Identifying materials with large thermoelectric response is…
At the ultra-thin limit below 20 nm, a film's electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, or thermoelectricity depends heavily on its thickness. In most studies, each sample is fabricated one at a time, potentially leading to…
Thermoelectric power of a material, typically governed by its band structure and carrier density, can be varied by chemical doping that is often restricted by solubility of the dopant. Materials showing large thermoelectric power are useful…