Reply To: turn heat into electricity

[Francisl]

asymmetric_implosion wrote:

Dow corning 1540-20p is a pourable silicone that can be formed in a mold any shape. Mix it with alumina or other insulator dust and you have a tailor made insulator with a lot of flex, insulating properties thermal capabilities, its off the shelf and inexpensive. 1 mold can make as many as you need and can easily be modified. Samples are easily obtained and would most likely cover the first few trials.

Silicone is like a polymer. It has many of the same problems of the polymer including UV sensitivity. Can alumina be mixed with it and will the silicone wet to the alumina? Wetting is key to building a strong compound. There are alumina and binders that can be molded into any shape but they are prone to cracking in the presence of intense plasma discharges like the plasma focus breakdown.

Another cheap material to experiment with is sodium or potassium silicate. It has good thermal and dielectric strength but it is brittle. That can be partially handled with different additives. It can be used as a binder for alumina or other insulating material and it can handle ultraviolet rays.