Founded on December 11, 1990.
Principal research areas:
- generalized theory of thermoelectric energy conversion;
- thermoelectric materials science;
- technology of thermoelectric materials;
- theory and technology of thermoelectric equipment.
Major achievements and developments:
- the theory of function-gradient thermoelectric materials;
- the theory and technology of fundamentally new types of thermocouples that significantly improve the practical potential of thermoelectricity applications;
- advanced thermoelectric materials;
- thermoelectric heat-and-power sources relying on natural gas; they permit a significant fuel economy;
- thermoelectric heat pumps to be used in substituting gas heating with electric one;
- thermoelectric transport air-conditioners (for 'Kolchuga' product);
- off-line supply sources for electronic equipment;
- a heat-generator for gas-distributing stations;
- a thermoelectric system for water regeneration in orbital space stations;
- high-efficiency thermoelectric cooling modules with improved shock resistance and service life, used in astro-sight systems of satellites;
- sectionalizing thermoelectric generators whose efficiency is twice as good as that of known foreign analogs.