AbstractOur exploratory research to identify new promising candidates for next generation thermoelectric applications has produced several interesting new materials which are briefly described here. We present their compositions, solid state structures, properties and charge transport behavior. The compounds CsBi4Te6, β-K2Bi8Se13, Ba4Bi6Se13, Eu2Pb2Bi6Se13, KBi6.33S10, Eu2Pb2Bi4Se10, Ba2Pb2Bi6S13 and K1.25 Pb3.5Bi7.25Se15 are particularly noteworthy.
Solar cells have emerged as a substitute for fuels, generating energy which is both renewable and pollution-free at reasonable prices. On the commercial scale, the silicon-based solar cells are still being used despite their efficiency decreasing over time. With the advancement in technology, efforts are being made to develop new materials for solar cells with higher efficiency and stability. The development of materials such as multijunctions, ultrathin films, quantum dots, dye sensitized materials, and perovskites has opened a new dimension to the solar cell technology. These are often referred to as next-generation materials for solar cell technology. In this chapter, an effort has been made to address the various issues these new generation solar technologies face and why there is a need to search for various new materials in order to improve and make these technologies commercially viable.
After materials with superconducting temperatures higher than liquid nitrogen have been prepared, more emphasis has been on increasing the current densities (Jc) of high Tc superconductors than finding new materials with higher transition temperatures. Different processing techniques i.e thin films, shock wave processing, neutron radiation etc. have been applied in order to increase Jc. Microstructural studies of compounds thus prepared have shown either a decrease in gram boundaries that act as weak-links or increase in defect structure that act as flux-pinning centers. We have studied shock wave synthesized Tl-Ba-Cu-O and shock wave processed Y-123 superconductors with somewhat different properties compared to those prepared by solid-state reaction. Here we report the defect structures observed in the shock-processed Y-124 superconductors.
New Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Required for Next-Generation Aircraft