Hybrid nanomaterial converts light and heat into electricity

Working with Louisiana Tech University assistant professor Long Que, UT Arlington associate physics professor Wei Chen and graduate students Santana Bala Lakshmanan and Chang Yang synthesised a combination of copper sulphide nanoparticles and single-walled carbon nanotubes.

The team used the nanomaterial to build a prototype thermoelectric generator that is hoped to eventually produce milliwatts of power.

Paired with microchips, the technology could be used in devices such as self-powering sensors, low-power electronic devices and implantable biomedical micro-devices, Chen said.

‘If we can convert both light and heat to electricity, the potential is huge for energy production,’ Chen said in a statement. ‘By increasing the number of the micro-devices on a chip, this technology might offer a new and efficient platform to complement or even replace current solar cell technology.’

In lab tests, the new thin-film structure is said to have shown increases of as much as 80 per cent in light absorption when compared with single-walled nanotube thin-film devices alone, making it a more efficient generator.