Micro and Nano-Engineering Enabled New Generation of Thermoelectric Generator Devices and Applications

As we are advancing our world to smart living, a critical challenge is increasingly pressing - increased energy demand. While we need mega power supplies for running data centers and other emerging applications, we also need instant small- scale power supply for trillions of electronics that we are using and will use in the age of Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Everything (IoE). Such power supplies must meet some parallel demands: sufficient energy supply in reliable, safe and affordable manner. In that regard, thermoelectric generators emerge as important renewable energy source with great potential to take advantage of the widely-abundant and normally-wasted thermal energy. Thanks to the advancements of nano-engineered materials, thermoelectric generators' (TEG) performance and feasibility are gradually improving. However, still innovative engineering solutions are scarce to sufficiently take the TEG performance and functionalities beyond the status-quo. Opportunities exist