Morgan State Secures $1 Million DoD Grant for Thermoelectric Research
New Project Aims to Develop Cost-Effective, Eco-Friendly Materials for Efficient Heat-to-Electricity Conversion
BALTIMORE — Morgan State University (MSU) has been awarded a $1 million research grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), according to the university, to lead pioneering work in developing next-generation thermoelectric materials—an emerging technology that transforms heat into clean, usable electricity. Over the next four years, researchers in the School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences (SCMNS) will focus on producing, synthesizing, and fabricating new thermoelectric materials. They will investigate the physical and structural properties of these materials and explore how heat is converted to electrical energy at the microscopic level. This work could also lay the foundation for new academic programs in new techniques for nanoscale structural analysis.
Two Physics and Engineering Physics faculty, Dereje Seifu, Ph.D., and Yucheng Lan, Ph.D., along with Zheng Li, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Mechatronics Engineering, lead the project as the research initiative’s principal investigators.
“Our goal is to create solutions that not only reduce pollution but also decrease the cost-of-living expenses related to energy,” said Dr. Lan. “Thermoelectric offers a compact and sustainable method for energy conversion that can be applied across a wide range of temperatures.”
Thermal energy is the internal energy of a system related to its temperature. It’s important to understand that heat is different; heat is the transfer of thermal energy between systems caused by a temperature difference. The efficiency of turning thermal energy into useful work depends on the state of the system. When a system is in thermodynamic equilibrium, it has constant properties like temperature and pressure, and work can only come from interacting with another system.
In contrast, non-equilibrium systems, such as moving fluids and spinning solids, have kinetic energy that we can use to do work. For example, wind can turn a windmill, and water can turn a waterwheel. However, once these systems reach thermodynamic equilibrium, their energy becomes random molecular motion—thermal energy—which cannot do work by itself. To use this energy, we need a temperature difference, usually by interacting with another system at a different temperature. This idea is crucial for heat engines, which change thermal energy into mechanical work by using temperature differences.
Thermoelectric is a new technology that can directly convert thermal energy into electrical energy with special materials. These systems are eco-friendly, compact, cost-effective, and generate no pollution. They work as solid-state devices without moving parts, providing reliable and quiet operation with little maintenance. You can use them for various purposes, including temperature monitoring, refrigeration, electricity generation, and capturing waste heat.
Recent reports show about two-thirds of available energy is wasted as heat in industrial and household processes. This wasted heat is a low-cost and sustainable energy source with significant economic potential, especially as traditional sustainable energy sources like wind, solar, and geothermal remain expensive. This has led to growing interest in finding affordable technologies to efficiently convert waste heat into electricity.
“This pioneering research not only holds significant promise for advancing environmental sustainability and stimulating economic growth,” said Paul B. Tchounwou, Sc.D., AAAS Fellow and Dean of the School of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at Morgan State University. “It also strengthens Morgan’s capacity to play a central role in developing advanced energy technologies and innovative applications within the national defense sector—positioning the University as a vital contributor to future breakthroughs in these critical domains.”
While thermoelectric technology shows promise for converting heat into electricity, its current use is limited by relatively low conversion efficiencies compared to traditional heat engines. Right now, applications mainly focus on specific markets where energy availability, stability, and reliability are more important than efficiency or cost. Key areas include space missions, optoelectronics, lab instruments, and various medical uses. As technology improves, the number of possible applications for thermoelectric materials is quickly increasing.
This initiative places Morgan State at the leading edge of clean energy research, with significant implications for STEM education, workforce development, and energy innovation. It also reinforces the university’s role in the advancement of technology related to national defense. Notably, this represents the first grant awarded to Morgan by the Department of Defense for renewable energy initiatives.
