Low-cost thermoelectric device creates electrical power from
heat differences March 2, 2012 Power Felt — a promising new
thermoelectric device — converts temperature differences, such
as room vs. body — into an electrical current. Developed by a
team of researchers in the Center for Nanotechnology and
Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University, it comprises
carbon nanotubes locked up in flexible plastic fibers and made
to feel like fabric. Potential uses for Power Felt include
lining automobile seats to boost battery power and service
electrical needs, insulating pipes or collecting heat under roof
tiles to lower gas or electric bills, lining clothing or sports
equipment to monitor performance, an emergency kit powering a
weather radio, or wrapping around wound sites to better track
patients’ medical needs. Cost has prevented thermoelectrics from
being used more widely in consumer products. Standard
thermoelectric devices use a much more efficient compound called
bismuth telluride to turn heat into power i