Explained: Thermoelectricity
Thermoelectricity is a two-way process. It can refer either to the way a temperature difference between one side of a material and the other can produce electricity, or to the reverse: the way applying an electric current through a material can create a temperature difference between its two sides, which can be used to heat or cool things without combustion or moving parts. It is a field in which MIT has been doing pioneering work for decades.The first part of the thermoelectric effect, the conversion of heat to electricity, was discovered in 1821 by the Estonian physicist Thomas Seebeck and was explored in more detail by French physicist Jean Peltier, and it is sometimes referred to as the Peltier-Seebeck effect. The reverse phenomenon, where heating or cooling can be produced by running an electric current through a material, was discovered in 1851 by William Thomson, also known as Lord Kelvin...