Applying pressure is way toward generating more electricity from waste heat

The ability of a thermoelectric material to produce electricity from waste heat was improved more than twofold. The researchers applied pressure to the material to induce a Lifshitz phase transition and, in a world-first, found a direct link between the Lifshitz transition and changes in the material's thermoelectric properties. Understanding the effect of the Lifshitz transition on quantum phenomena could lead to improved thermoelectric materials.