ABSTRACT

Thermoelectricity is the onset of transport phenomena in which heat or charge current are cross–driven by temperature gradients or electric fields. The most common thermoelectric phenomena are heat currents flowing as a result of the application of an electric field, and electric fields setting up as a result of a temperature difference. Both phenomena, namely charge current driven by a temperature difference (Seebeck effect) and heat flow driven by an electric current (Peltier effect), were discovered in the first half of the 19th century and found almost immediate practical applications. The Peltier effect, discovered in 1834, found its first use in a solid-state cooler built by Lenz just 4 years later, while the usability of the Seebeck effect (observed for the first time by Volta in 1794 and rediscovered by Seebeck in 1821) to generate electric power was demonstrated by Altenkirch in 1909 [1].