Nanomaterials for Thermoelectric Devices

With the increaseing global demand for energy, we are facing a huge challenge of energy sustainability. Renewable energy has attracted an immense amount of interest with regard to solving the sustainbility issue. Among the various renewable energy sources, solar heat and waste heat energy has significant advantages due to its availability. Thermoelectric nanomaterials play an indispensable role in heat-to-electricity energy conversion. A high energy conversion efficiency is critical for practical applications of thermoelectric energy conversion systems, and understanding the fundamentals of energy conversion mechanisms is essential.

This book details thermoelectric energy conversion nanomaterials and the related manufacturing processes. It also introduces the latest research progress in thermoelectric energy conversion nanomaterials. It is a great reference for readers from both academia and industry.

Yong X. Gan is professor at California State Polytechnic University, USA. He obtained his BS from the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, China, in July 1984; MS and DEng in materials science and engineering from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China, in March 1987 and December 1992, respectively; and MPhil and PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, in October 2004 and May 2005, respectively. He served as a faculty member in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (March 1987–January 1995); visiting research scholar in the Materials Research and Education Center, Auburn University, Alabama, USA (January 1995–August 1997); research associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tuskegee University, Alabama (September 1997–August 2002); assistant professor the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York (September 2005–August 2007); and assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Toledo, Ohio, USA (August 2007–September 2012). His major teaching and research activities focus on advanced materials processing and manufacturing, microstructure analysis, and property characterization.