Search results for ""author enrique macia""

Environmental and economic concerns have significantly spurred the search for novel, high-performance thermoelectric materials for energy conversion in small-scale power generation and refrigeration devices. This quest has been mainly fueled by the introduction of new designs and the synthesis of new materials. In fact, good thermoelectric materials must simultaneously exhibit extreme properties: they must have very low thermal conductivity values and both electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient high values as well. Since these transport coefficients are interrelated, the required task of optimization is a formidable one. Thus, thermoelectric materials provide a full-fledged example of interdisciplinary research connecting fields such as solid-state physics, materials science engineering, and structural chemistry and raise the need of gaining proper knowledge of the role played by the electronic structure in the thermal and electrical transport properties of solid matter. This book presents a detailed, updated introduction to the field of thermoelectric materials in a tutorial way, focusing on both basic notions and fundamental questions and illustrating the abstract concepts with suitable application examples. It discusses thermoelectric effects, the transport coefficients and their mutual relations, the efficiency of thermoelectric devices, and some notions on the characterization and related industry standards. It also reviews the two basic strategies for optimizing the thermoelectric performance of materials: the control of thermal conductivity and the power factor enhancement. It discusses structural complexity approach, focusing on complex enough lattice structures with heavy atoms in the unit-cell or nanostructured systems characterized by low-dimensional effects, and introducing different kinds of bulk materials of growing chemical and structural complexity. It also discusses the electronic structure engineering approach that focuses on obtaining a guiding principle, in terms of an electronic band structure tailoring process, and describes the role played by the electronic structure in the thermoelectric performance of different materials.

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Here is a fascinating reader-friendly exploration of “the phosphorus enigma.” The volume attempts to answer the questions: How did phosphorus atoms, which are produced inside the inner cores of a handful of huge stars, become concentrated in relatively high proportions in the organisms composing Earth’s biosphere? And how did these phosphate derivatives manage to be included in such a great variety of organic molecules playing essential biochemical roles in all known life forms?Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the topic, the volume is arranged in three sections. The first section introduces the fundamental concepts and notions of physics, chemistry, and biology necessary for the proper understanding of the topics discussed within an astronomical framework. The author then focuses on the role of phosphorus and its compounds within the context of chemical evolution in galaxies, considering its relevance in most essential biochemical functions as well as its peculiar chemistry under different physicochemical conditions. The third section provides an overall perspective on the role of phosphorus and its compounds in current areas of research of solid state physics, materials engineering, nanotechnology or medicine.

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One of the Top Selling Physics Books according to YBP Library ServicesOrder can be found in all the structures unfolding around us at different scales, including in the arrangements of matter and in energy flow patterns. Aperiodic Structures in Condensed Matter: Fundamentals and Applications focuses on a special kind of order referred to as aperiodic order.The book covers several topics dealing with the role of aperiodic order in numerous domains of the physical sciences and technology. It first presents the most characteristic features of various aperiodic systems. The author then describes theoretical aspects and useful mathematical approaches to properly study the physical systems. Focusing on applied issues, he discusses how to exploit aperiodic order in different technological devices. The author also examines one-, two-, and three-dimensional designs. For those new to the field of aperiodic systems, this book is an excellent guide to the many facets and applications of aperiodic structures.

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