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HOW CAN A DEVICE GENERATE ELECTRICITY FROM THIN AIR?

A new generation of power sources is being created that rely on thermoelectric power to seemingly create electricity out of thin air.

They convert temperature differences directly into electrical energy through a phenomenon called the Seebeck effect. 

In 1821, Thomas Johann Seebeck discovered that a thermal gradient formed between two dissimilar conductors can produce electricity.

To do so, they rely on specially created materials which take advantage of a property known as thermal effusivity.

This is the combination of thermal conduction and thermal capacity, or how quickly heat can be distributed through a material and how much heat can be stored.

One side of the device captures heat, which then slowly radiates through to the other side. 

One side always lags behind the other as the system tries to reach equilibrium.

In most materials one of these properties is high, while the other is low. Ceramics have low conduction but high thermal capacity, for example.

This perpetual difference between the two sides can then be harvested through conventional thermoelectrics. 

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