LOW THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY THERMOELECTRIC MATERIALS AND METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME

摘要

A method of manufacturing fiber based and syntactic foam based composite type thermally insulating materials that retain high performance thermoelectric properties, and which can be used as thermoelectric generators or Peltier coolers for a wide range of industrial, commercial, residential and military applications.

主权项

1. A method of manufacturing a low thermal conductivity, low density syntactic foam composite thermoelectric material having a low density, thermally and electrically insulating backbone microstructure formed by the use of micron diameter porous silica microspheres or hollow borosilicate microspheres, the method comprising:
coating surfaces of the microspheres surfaces and contact points between respective microspheres or partially filling the interstices between the microspheres with a thermoelectric material; and controlled heating and applying pressure to the microspheres and thermoelectric material to create a low density, low thermal conductivity thermoelectric material composite with both insulator and thermoelectric properties.