A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | A P R I L 2 0 2 3 1 1 PROCESS TECHNOLOGY SUPERFAST MANUFACTURING OF THERMOELECTRIC DEVICES University of Notre Dame, Indiana, researchers developed a new superfast way to create high-performance, energy-saving thermoelectric devices. The novel process uses intense pulsed light to sinter thermoelectric material in less than a second. The team sped up this method of turning nanoparticle inks into flexible devices by using machine learning to determine the optimum conditions for the ultrafast but complex sintering process. According to the researchers, flexible thermoelectric devices offer great opportunities for direct conversion of waste heat into electricity as well as solid-state refrigeration. These products have additional benefits as power sources and cooling devices—they don’t emit greenhouse gases, and they are both durable and quiet since they don’t have moving parts. storage, microelectronics, and nano- lithography. Much more versatility is possible by gaining precise control over the sequence in which different monomer molecules combine to form blocks, which then link together further on their own. Gaining fine control over the formation of these materials, known as block polymers, generally requires complicated cycles of chemical reactions. The achievement is an example of a one-pot, one-step reaction, because it involves simply adding the required monomers to a single reaction vessel and using chemistry to control the assembly of the monomers into blocks, and then into a block polymer. A crucial key to controlling how the monomers react is the use of an alkali metal carboxylate to switch the polymer-building processes between different forms of reaction. www.global.hokudai.ac.jp. Despite their potentially broad impact in energy and environmental sustainability, thermoelectric devices have not achieved large-scale application due to cost-prohibitive manufacturing processes. Now, machine-learning-assisted ultrafast flash sintering will make it possible to produce high-performance, eco-friendly devices much faster and at a far lower cost. “The results can be applied to powering everything from wearable personal devices to sensors and electronics, to industry Internet of Things,” notes researcher Yanliang Zhang. nd.edu. SIMPLIFIED POLYMER SYNTHESIS Researchers at Hokkaido University, Japan, are simplifying the production of complex polymers with precisely controlled structures. Using a new one-pot, one-step synthesis procedure, the new process brings a sought-after level of control to making long and geometrically interlinked polymer molecules from several alternating molecular units joined in a controlled sequence. The method could open new avenues for producing a wide range of advanced materials, with applications in many fields, including drug delivery, data BRIEF Wall Colmonoy, Madison Heights, Mich., will invest $2.5 million to modernize its alloy products plant in Los Lunas, N.M. The plan includes upgrades to plant infrastructure, alloy furnace equipment, and the R&D laboratory. wallcolmonoy.com. Artistic rendering of high-performance thermoelectric devices for energy harvesting and cooling. Courtesy of University of Notre Dame. A wide variety of synthetic polymers with diverse structures can be constructed using newmethods. Courtesy of Xiaochao Xia, et al., Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2022.
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