Lämpösähköiset

Lämpösähköiset refers to thermoelectric materials and phenomena. Thermoelectricity is a physical phenomenon where temperature differences across a material can generate an electric voltage, or conversely, where an electric current can create a temperature difference. This effect is based on the interaction between heat and electricity within certain materials.

The most well-known thermoelectric effects are the Seebeck effect, the Peltier effect, and the Thomson effect. The Seebeck effect is the conversion of temperature gradients into electric voltage. When one side of a thermoelectric material is heated and the other side is cooled, a voltage is produced. This is the principle behind thermoelectric generators. The Peltier effect is the converse of the Seebeck effect. When an electric current flows through a junction of two different thermoelectric materials, heat is either absorbed or released at the junction, leading to a cooling or heating effect. This is utilized in thermoelectric coolers. The Thomson effect describes the heating or cooling of a conductor when an electric current flows through it if there is a temperature gradient along the conductor.

Thermoelectric devices are solid-state and have no moving parts, making them reliable and durable. They are often used in niche applications where other cooling or power generation methods are impractical, such as in space probes for power generation from radioisotope decay, or in small-scale refrigeration and temperature control systems. The efficiency of thermoelectric conversion is a significant area of research, with efforts focused on developing new materials that exhibit higher thermoelectric performance, often measured by a figure of merit called ZT.