FACTS — Functional Advanced Composites for Thermoelectric Systems

The project at a glance

Start date:
01 Aug 2026
Duration in months:
18
Funding:
FNR, Bridges
Principal Investigator(s):
Prof. Dr. Stephan Leyer

��Vlog

FACTS is a joint research project of the ��Vlog and an industrial partner. It aims to improve heat-flux sensors, devices that measure thermal energy passing through a surface. Unlike a temperature sensor, which indicates how hot or cold a point is, a heat-flux sensor shows how rapidly heat is being transferred and in which direction.

The project builds on SELENA, an earlier research programme that established a scalable manufacturing process for this sensor technology and produced the first practical generation of devices. FACTS starts from that existing platform and addresses the next scientific challenge: increasing sensitivity while maintaining the fast response, small size, robustness and manufacturability of the current sensors.

The research combines numerical modelling, materials development, device fabrication and experimental characterisation. Simulations will be used to identify promising material and design combinations, which will then be manufactured and tested as complete sensors. The project targets a significant increase in sensitivity compared with the established baseline.

Performance improvements will be evaluated through traceable calibration. Thermal ageing, repeated temperature cycling and measurements at both partner sites will be used to study drift, reliability and reproducibility. The project will also develop common methods for analysing and calibrating transverse heat-flux sensors, helping researchers compare results obtained with different devices and experimental setups.

A calibrated pre-series will be produced using scalable processes and evaluated in industrial pilot applications. Potential uses include thermal monitoring and control in electronics, batteries, precision manufacturing and other systems where rapid changes in heat transfer need to be measured directly.