Leader: Mezentseva Zhanna

Work E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Scientific problem:

At present, against the backdrop of the global energy crisis and the acute shortage of fossil fuel resources, the problem of harnessing ambient thermal energy, developing new renewable energy converters, and finding new approaches to improving the energy efficiency of building structures remains highly relevant. The concept of passive design, which focuses on increasing the thermal insulation of buildings while taking into account the gas exchange with the external atmosphere essential to human life, does not sufficiently support the implementation of promising concepts such as “smart homes,” “net-zero buildings,” and similar projects. Traditional standardized building materials are becoming obsolete and, over the next 30 to 50 years, should be fully replaced by more efficient alternatives. One possible solution is to integrate an energy-generating (active) component directly into building materials. Given the direct interaction of structural building elements with the external environment, it is necessary to create additional channels within them for the extraction, accumulation, and conversion of ambient thermal energy into appropriate forms, while preserving gas exchange. This project is aimed at developing such “smart building materials”.

Objective: 

Development of scientific foundations and practical implementation of materials capable of collecting distributed thermal energy and converting the energy released during the adsorption of atmospheric moisture into electrical energy.

Tasks:

1. Practical implementation of a volumetric hydroelectric energy converter in the form of a porous block.
2. Investigation using multichannel voltammetry of the volumetric distribution of electric fields produced by the system as the direction of the adsorption-front vector changes.
3. Plotting a charge and mass flow pattern.
4. Optimization of the chemical composition of the porous block components.
5. Thermodynamic calculations of temperature fields within the porous block during moisture adsorption.
6. Development of a thermal energy harvesting system.
7. Development of a system for collecting charge carriers produced by the porous block during moisture adsorption.
8. Optimization of the porous block microstructure to achieve a preferred direction of charge-carrier movement within the system, using accelerator modification of the porous block materials.
9. Fabrication of a laboratory sample of a building material with an active energy infrastructure and a working prototype of a system for power generation and air thermostatting under conditions of varying atmospheric humidity and temperature.

Research facilities: 

EG-5 accelerator, X-ray diffractometer, electron microscope, optical microscope, multichannel ADC, potentiostat, impedance meter, chemical laboratory, other infrastructure of the EG-5 accelerator complex and FLNP.

Minimum requirements for applicants

Solid educational background in physics, chemistry, mathematics, nanotechnology, electronics; problem-solving and practical hands-on skills; creativity; ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team; diligence and a high degree of responsibility.