Thermoelectric effects in higher fatty alcohols

Relevance. Currently, an active search is underway for alternative energy sources. Electrical effects that occur in the field of phase transitions during the directed crystallization of organic dielectrics can be the energy source. Aim. To study the effect of the physico-chemical properties and component composition of higher fatty alcohols on their phase states and the interelectrode potential difference during their crystallization. Methods.The effect of physico-chemical properties of individual even fatty alcohols (FA) C10–22, as well as fractions of fatty alcohols C20+ and C20–22 on thermoelectric effects during their crystallization has been studied by methods of temperature electrometry and differential scanning calorimetry. Results and conclusions. In the field of crystallization and solid-phase transitions of higher fatty alcohols the authors found thermoelectric effects ∆φ reaching 128.5 mV. The crystallization of alcohols is accompanied by the generation and emission of electric charge carriers, which are interpreted as thermoelectric effects. It is shown that the thermoelectric effects in individual fatty alcohols increase with growth in their molecular weight in the range from C10 to C20, followed by a decrease for alcohol C22. The temperature ranges of the existence of electric potentials in alkane alcohols depend on their molar mass, chemical and fractional composition. The temperature ranges of phase transitions and phase states for individual higher fatty alcohols are determined only using differential scanning calorimetry. Phase transitions and phase states of the fractions of higher fatty alcohols are identified according to the data of higher fatty alcohols and temperature electrometry. The melting and crystallization temperatures of higher fatty alcohols were found to correspond according to electrometry and differential scanning calorimetry, as well as their correspondence to literary data. The authors obtained with a high degree of approximation the correlation equations linking the physicochemical properties of individual fatty alcohols with their molar mass and refractive index at 100 ℃. The relationship between thermoelectric effects and phase states of fatty alcohols were established. Electrometric effects in fatty alcohols are inherent only for weakly packed crystal structures – for the hexagonal structure (rot2-state) and for the rot1-state. To assess the stability of thermoelectric potentials in fatty alcohols, the authors proposed the coefficients characterizing their temperature depolarization. For citation: Agaev S.G., Yakovlev N.S., Zanochuev S.A., Bayda A.A., Tyulkov M.A. Thermoelectric effects in fatty alcohols. Bulletin of the Tomsk Polytechnic University. Geo Assets Engineering, 2026, vol. 337, no. 7, pp. 137-149. https://doi.org/10.18799/24131830/2026/7/5076