A General Motors-led research team is using the world's fastest supercomputer to advance the cause of vehicle efficiency. GM's Jihui Yang and colleagues have used ORNL's Cray XT5 Jaguar system to identify the atomic arrangement of a promising thermoelectric material made up of lead and tellurium speckled with small clumps of silver and antimony. By converting heat energy directly into electricity, thermoelectric materials may eventually recycle the energy coming out a vehicle's exhaust as waste heat and make it available to charge a hybrid battery or power electric systems throughout the vehicle. The team reported its findings in the October 2, 2009, issue of the journal Physical Review Letters.
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