Increasing thermoelectric efficiency towards the Carnot limit

TL;DR

This paper proposes a microscopic mechanism in classical ergodic billiards that can significantly increase thermoelectric efficiency, approaching the Carnot limit in the linear response regime.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach linking particle and energy transport in ergodic systems to enhance thermoelectric efficiency near the Carnot limit.

Findings

Thermoelectric efficiency approaches Carnot limit in ideal ergodic gases.

Exact expressions for transport coefficients in the linear response regime.

Numerical simulation confirms theoretical predictions with Lorentz gas model.

Abstract

We study the problem of thermoelectricity and propose a simple microscopic mechanism for the increase of thermoelectric efficiency. We consider the cross transport of particles and energy in open classical ergodic billiards. We show that, in the linear response regime, where we find exact expressions for all transport coefficients, the thermoelectric efficiency of ideal ergodic gases can approach Carnot efficiency for sufficiently complex charge carrier molecules. Our results are clearly demonstrated with a simple numerical simulation of a Lorentz gas of particles with internal rotational degrees of freedom.