Thermoelectric property tailoring by composite engineering

The tailoring of the thermoelectric properties (the sign and magnitude of the absolute thermoelectric power) was achieved by composite engineering. The techniques involved the choice of the reinforcing fibers (continuous or short) in a structural composite and the choice of the particulate filler between the laminae in a continuous fiber composite. The tailoring resulted in thermoelectric structural composites, including continuous carbon fiber polymer-matrix composites and short fiber cement-matrix composites. In addition, it resulted in thermocouples in the form of structural composites. The choice of fibers impacted the thermoelectric behavior in the fiber direction of the composite. The choice of interlaminar filler impacted the thermoelectric behavior in the through-thickness direction.