History of Thermoelectricity

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The discovery of the thermoelectric effect has been attributed to Thomas Johann Seebeck (German Physicist).

In 1821, he published the experimental findings on thermoelectric effect. He used a conducting loop consisting of two different metal bars connected to each other at their ends; heating one of the junctions in the loop deflected the magnetic compass needle placed nearby.

Initially, it was called “Thermomagnetism”, as there was a magnetic effect due to heating.

Later, it was realized that there is a charge flow in the conductor due to the temperature gradient in the conductors. The charge flow in the metals due to temperatures gradient produces a magnetic field around the metal bars and deflects the compass needle.

By this experiment, Seebeck demonstrated that HEAT could be converted to ELECTRICITY!

Later in 1834, J.C. Peltier (French Physicist) discovered a complementary effect on the Seebeck effect in which the application of external electrical voltage creates an interesting phenomenon of heating and cooling effects at junctions. 

Peltier demonstrated the COOLING effect in the conductor circuit by applying ELECTRIC CURRENT!