Andrey Varlamov
SPIN-CNR Rome, Italy
https://www.spin.cnr.it/people/research-associate/varlamov-andrey
“Thermoelectricity: from the iron arc of the Alessandro Volta era to ferrofluid thermal generators today”
I will begin my talk with an overview of the fascinating history of thermoelectricity, which involved such famous scientists as Luigi Galvani, Alessandro Volta, Thomas Seebeck, Jean Charles Atanas Peltier, Walter Nernst, William Thompson, Neville Mott, the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Hegel, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
I will then move on to an account of the basic concepts in the description of thermoelectric and thermomagnetic phenomena, and how as our understanding of Nature improves, thermoelectricity is finding more and more applications. I will formulate the requirements for materials necessary for the widespread practical use of thermoelectricity, and will present those already available, those that Nature forgot to create, and this gap is caught up with scientists.