Methods for determining desired doping conditions for a semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (s-SWCNT) are provided. One exemplary method includes doping each of a plurality of s-SWCNT networks under a respective set of doping conditions; determining a thermoelectric (TE) power factor as a function of a fractional bleach of an absorption spectrum for the plurality of s-SWCNT networks doped under the respective sets of doping conditions; and using the function to identify one of the TE power factors within a range of the fractional bleach of the absorption spectrum. The identified TE power factor corresponds to the desired doping conditions.

In some embodiments, thermoelectric apparatus and various applications of thermoelectric apparatus are described herein. In some embodiments, a thermoelectric apparatus described herein comprises at least one p-type layer coupled to at least one n-type layer to provide a pn junction, and an insulating layer at least partially disposed between the p-type layer and the n-type layer, the p-type layer comprising a plurality of carbon nanoparticles and the n-type layer comprising a plurality of n-doped carbon nanoparticles.

The invention relates to an electric power generator (EPG) comprising at least a first electrode (11) and a second electrode (12), wherein the electric power generator comprises an active material between said electrodes (11,12), said active material comprising at least one oxygen-containing compound selected from the group consisting of MgO, ZnO, ZrOCl.sub.2, ZrO.sub.2, SiO.sub.2, Bi.sub.2O.sub.3, FeO.sub.3O.sub.4, AI.sub.2O.sub.3, TiO.sub.2, B.sub.eO, CaO, Ga.sub.2O.sub.3, In.sub.2O.sub.3, GeO.sub.2, SnO.sub.2 and PbO.sub.2, wherein the particle size of the oxygen-containing compound has an average diameter in the range from 10 nm to 40 μm at and wherein a thickener additive selected from the group consisting of agar agar, xanthan gum, methyl cellulose, and arabic gum is absent

An object of the present invention is to provide a thermoelectric conversion element which includes a p-type thermoelectric conversion layer and an n-type thermoelectric conversion layer, has excellent power generation capacity and durability, and inhibits a variation in power generation capacity between lots. The thermoelectric conversion element of the present invention is a thermoelectric conversion element having a p-type thermoelectric conversion layer and an n-type thermoelectric conversion layer electrically connected to the p-type thermoelectric conversion layer, in which the p-type thermoelectric conversion layer contains a nanocarbon material and at least one kind of component selected from the group consisting of an onium salt and an inorganic salt, the n-type thermoelectric conversion layer contains a nanocarbon material and an onium salt, and a difference between an ionization potential of the p-type thermoelectric conversion layer and an ionization potential of the n-type thermoelectric conversion layer is equal to or smaller than 0.15 eV.

A thermoelectric material, having a formula Tb.sub.xM1.sub.y-xM2.sub.zO.sub.w where M1 is one of Ca, Mg, Sr, Ba and Ra, M2 is at least one of Co, Fe, Ni, and Mn, x ranges from 0.01 to 5; y is 1, 2, 3, or 5; z is 1, 2, 3, or 4; and w is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, or 14. The thermoelectric material is chemically stable within 5% for one year and is also non-toxic. The thermoelectric material can also be incorporated into a thermoelectric system which can be used to generate electricity from waste heat sources or to cool an adjacent region.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a thermoelectric conversion element having a film which not only maintains sufficient adhesion even when exposed to a high temperature but also exhibits excellent oxidation resistance and crack resistance. The problem is solved by a thermoelectric conversion element including a thermoelectric conversion component, in which the thermoelectric conversion component contains magnesium silicide and/or manganese silicide and is covered with a film containing Si and Zr.

Provided is an easy-to-process thermoelectric conversion device whose shape can be freely changed. The device is provided containing electrodes and an ionic solid, wherein the ionic solid has: an anionic heterometal complex aggregated to form a crystal lattice; and a cationic species present in interstices of the crystal lattice, and wherein the anionic heterometal complex includes: a metal M1 selected from the group consisting of the elements of Groups 8, 9 and 10 of the Periodic Table and Cr and Mn; a metal M2 selected from the group consisting of the elements of Groups 11 and 12 of the Periodic Table; and a ligand.

An electrically-powered device, structure and/or component is provided that includes an attached autonomous electrical power source in a form of a unique, environmentally-friendly structure that is configured to transform thermal energy at any temperature above absolute zero to an electric potential without any external stimulus including physical movement or deformation energy. The autonomous electrical power source component provides a mechanism for generating renewable energy, or a renewable energy supplement, as primary or auxiliary power for the electrically-powered device, structure and/or component. The autonomous electrical power source component is formed of one or more elements, each of which includes a first conductor having a surface with a comparatively low work function, a second conductor having a surface with the comparatively high work function and a dielectric layer on a scale of 200 nm or less interposed between the conductors.

The present invention relates to a thermoelectric alloy and a method for producing the same. A starting material is firstly provided, and an oxidation process is performed to the starting material to obtain an oxidized material composition. Then, the oxidized material composition and a carburizing agent are added into a quartz tube, and a sealing process is performed to the quartz tube. And then, the sealed quartz tube is subjected to a carburization process, thereby obtaining the thermoelectric alloy with excellent thermoelectric figure-of-merit.

A thermoelectric conversion module may include a plurality of n-type thermoelectric conversion elements and a plurality of p-type thermoelectric conversion elements alternating with one another, a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of second electrodes that alternately connect the plurality of alternating n-type and p-type thermoelectric conversion elements at hot sides and cool sides, and a plurality of case electrodes, each of which selectively connects the first electrodes adjacent to each other, among the plurality of first electrodes. The first electrodes and the case electrodes are configured to be movable relative to each other so that the plurality of first electrodes are electrically connected through the plurality of case electrodes or electrical connections between the plurality of first electrodes through the plurality of case electrodes are disabled according to a relative movement of the plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of case electrodes.