"ENERGY: MIT Harvests Heat with Quantum Dots to Double Battery Lifetimes"

Instead of designing electronic devices to wastefully dissipate their excess heat, a new quantum-dot based thermo-electric effect aims to harvest that heat to generate enough electricity to double battery lifetimes. Look for thermophotovoltaic devices to hit the market as early as next year. R.C.J.


Instead of designing electronic devices to wastefully dissipate their excess heat, a new quantum-dot based thermo-electric effect aims to harvest that heat to generate enough electricity to double battery lifetimes.
Every electronic device wastes energy dissipating heat that it could be using to extend battery life, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). By combining micro-gap thermal effects with nanoscale quantum dots, MIT researchers recently demonstrated thermophotovoltaic materials that recover lost heat by generating electricity with it.
Text: http://www.smartertechnology.com/c/a/Technology-For-Change/MIT-Harvests-Heat-with-Quantum-Dots-to-Double-Battery-Lifetimes/