This invention, co-invented with Prof. Robert Blick of the University of Hamburg, uses folded 2-dimensional materials to reach enhanced thermoelectric conversion efficiencies. 2-D materials like grapheme are great electrical and thermal conductors; by folding them, the thermal path is suppressed, diverting more thermal energy into electrical, thereby increasing thermoelectric conversion efficiency:
http://tto-umass-amherst.technologypublisher.com/tech/Efficient_Thermoelectric_Converters