Thermoelectric structural composites and thermocouples using them

The tailoring of the sign and magnitude of the absolute thermoelectric power was achieved in structural composites by the choice of the reinforcing fibers and of the particulate filler between laminae. The resulting thermoelectric structural composites included 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 fibers and interlaminar filler impacted the thermoelectric behavior in the longitudinal and through-thickness directions respectively.