Research Outline
- Flow Thermoelectric Conversion" integrates thermoelectrochemical generation and forced convection cooling
Cooling is necessary for efficient operation of electronic devices and heat engines and for preventing thermal damage. In contrast, flow thermoelectric generation, a technology developed by our laboratory, can recover part of exergy loss as electric power along with cooling. In order to increase the power generation density, we are currently searching for metal complexes for thermoelectrochemical power generation, and designing and fabricating new flow thermoelectric power generation systems.
- Photon up-conversion" - high energy conversion of photons
Photon energy conversion efficiency is fundamentally limited by the fact that photons with energies below the band gap energy of semiconductors cannot be used in photocatalytic hydrogen production, artificial photosynthesis, and power generation using solar cells. In recent years, solid-state forms of photon upconversion, which can avoid this limiting factor, have been pursued rather than organic solvent forms, which are not suitable for practical use. We have developed a new system using solid solution crystals and achieved extremely high performance.