Award of MOE Tier 1 Call 2/2023 - Associate Professor Yang En-Hua

Congratulations to Associate Professor Yang En-Hua on the award of MOE Tier 1 Call 2/ 2023 for his project:
Investigation of Thermoelectric Properties of Inorganic-based Alkali-activated Materials (AAMs) and it's Potential for Thermal Energy Harvesting.

Project Write-up

This proposed research is to investigate the thermoelectric (TE) properties of inorganic-based alkali-activated materials (AAMs), and its application for thermal energy harvesting and conversion to electricity. The TE properties of AAMs are firstly discovered by the PI’s team in 2021. Since then, several researchers have observed the similar phenomenon and identified the potential use of AAMs for energy harvesting, however the related research is very limited. Until now, the mechanism of the TE properties of AAMs are still unclear, and the understanding of the factors that governing the TE properties of AAMs are lacked.

With regard to the presented knowledge gap, in this proposed project, the thermoelectric properties of alkali-activated materials will be tested, and following research questions will be addressed: (i) what are the fundamental mechanisms governing thermoelectric (TE) properties of alkali-activated materials (AAMs), (ii) what are the impacts of different phases (matrix, fibre/filler, interface) on TE properties of AAMs, (iii) how to tailor the AAMs to enhance the TE properties, and (iv) how to develop AAMs-based thermoelectric generator prototypes.