Polymer Mixture Creates Ultra-Sensitive Heat Sensor

An ultra-sensitive heat sensor was developed that is based on the fact that certain materials are thermoelectric. The electrons in a thermoelectric material move from the cold side to the warm side when a temperature difference arises between the two sides and a voltage difference arises. In this project, researchers developed a thermoelectric material that uses ions as charge carriers instead of electrons, and the effect is 100 times larger.