Increasing thermoelectric efficiency: Dynamical models unveil microscopic mechanisms

Abstract

Dynamical nonlinear systems provide a new approach to the old problem of increasing the efficiency of thermoelectric machines. In this review, we discuss stylized models of classical dynamics, including non-interacting complex molecules in an ergodic billiard, A disordered hard-point gas and an abstract thermoelectric machine. The main focus will be on the physical mechanisms, unveiled by these dynamical models, which lead to high thermoelectric efficiency approaching the Carnot limit. This journal is © 2011 The Royal Society.