Development of a new power generation device based on thermopower wave

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K18974
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 27:Chemical engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: SANO Noriaki 京都大学, 工学研究科, 教授 (70295749)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-06-29 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: thermopower wave

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research developed a new power generation device that can generate a large output voltage based on the principle of thermopower wave discovered in 2010 by Strano et al. We have succeeded that a thermopower wave device generated 1.0 V, which was 50 times larger than the 20 mV obtained by Strano et al. When the power generation characteristics were examined, the power generation per carbon mass was 0.0035 J/g. It was also found that crystals (deposited film in a quartz tube) generated by burning of powder mixture of carbon-NaH2PO4 (or Na2SO4) was necessary to realize the power generation. It was also found that the how the graphite powders are backed also had a great influence on the power generation.

Free Research Field

化学工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年、様々な電池が小型発電機として研究されている。また、キャパシタなどバックアップ電源としての研究が盛んである。いずれの研究も課題が多く、その状況下でまったく新規な発電デバイスの発明、開発が有意義である。本研究は従来にない新しい発電デバイスを開発するものであり、短時間に確実に電極を供給するデバイスとして意義がある。