Samsung finds new material to turn waste heat into power

By Kim Young-gyo

SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the South Korean electronics giant, said Thursday it has developed a new material that can transform waste heat into useful electricity.

The metallic compound in its crystalline form generates a thermoelectric
phenomenon, in which a temperature difference creates electricity, the company
said. It added the material is easy to produce and improves thermoelectromotive
force by 80 percent.
The discovery, published in the latest issue of Nature magazine, will point to a
new direction in the search for high-performance thermoelectric materials,
Samsung said.
Over the past decade, there has been a renewed effort to discover such materials,
motivated by increasing demand for renewable energy and technological advances.
If applied correctly, the material could utilize heat generated from mobile
devices, automobile engines and factories, Samsung said.
"It is generally thought that by 2014 thermoelectricity will start to be
commercialized in the automobile sector," said Lee Sang-mock, an R&D staff member
at Samsung.