Nuclear binding-energy difference → Electrical work
Nuclear binding-energy differenceNuclear fissionTemperature gradientThermoacoustic effectAcoustic waveTriboelectric effectSeparated surface chargeElectrical work
Epistemic state of the route
- known constituent relations
- 6 / 7 established or replicated · weakest constituent demonstrated
- constituent maturity floor
- K4 · experimentally observed
- search for this exact route
- Not assessed — complete composition not searched.
- recorded-pathway overlap
- shares its closing relations with Thermoacoustic triboelectric harvester · 5/7 relations shared
- route-level evidence
- 0 sources for the complete composition · 8 cited by the constituent steps
- boundaries and interfaces
- BOUNDARY compatible · 1 recorded interface
- thermoacoustic-triboelectric-piston · gas–solid acoustic boundary · demonstrated · resonator-gas → triboelectric-actuator · carries Acoustic wave · between thermoacoustic-produces-sound and acoustic-wave-drives-triboelectricthermoacoustic pressure oscillations mechanically drive the piston / contact-separation assembly without an intervening electrical transducerThe piston is apparatus at this boundary and adds no conversion phenomenon to the route. Ahmed et al. 2025 (a mercury–Kapton sliding TENG on a thermoacoustic engine, 18.8 V / 3.2 μA per layer) shows the family does not require a solid piston, but its gas–liquid–solid boundary is physically different and is not folded into this record.
- thermoacoustic-triboelectric-piston · gas–solid acoustic boundary · demonstrated · resonator-gas → triboelectric-actuator · carries Acoustic wave · between thermoacoustic-produces-sound and acoustic-wave-drives-triboelectric
Explorematrix context · physics checks · steps · route evidence · constituent evidence · cite
Matrix context
D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.
D.20 × C.27 · Nuclear binding-energy difference × Nuclear heatfamily: Nuclear heatD.20 × C.03 · Nuclear binding-energy difference × Thermoacousticfamily: ThermoacousticD.20 × C.12 · Nuclear binding-energy difference × Triboelectricfamily: Triboelectric
Typed bounds on this route
Every limit the atlas holds for this route, as constraint records: reached through bounded_by claims on the route's own entities. Hard bounds (an upper bound or a formula) decide the thermodynamic-bound check above; benchmarks, constitutive relations and resource limits are listed and never decisive. No prose limit exists anywhere (pass 42).
- Carnot limit · formula-bound · hard, applies to this routeη ≤ 1 − T_c/T_h for any heat engine between reservoirs at T_h and T_c
Steps
- 01nuclear → kinetic · loss to radiative
- for neutron-induced fission: a fissionable nuclide and an incident neutron in an energy range with non-zero fission cross-section
- critical geometry is required only for a self-sustaining chain reaction; a moderator is reactor-design dependent
About 200 MeV per event, almost all as fragment kinetic energy (Frisch 1939); thermalisation is a separate step.refs [1] [2] - 02kinetic → thermal · loss to radiative
- fragment and neutron kinetic energy thermalised in the fuel; the fuel runs hotter than the coolant
refs [2] [3] - 03thermal → acoustic · loss to thermal|∇T_crit| = β T_m ω |p₁| / (ρ_m c_p |u₁|); prime-mover onset requires |∇T| > |∇T_crit| · critical-gradient factor β T_m ω/(ρ_m c_p u₁) [K/(Pa·m)]p₁ and u₁ are the local first-order acoustic pressure and particle-velocity amplitudes; β is the volumetric thermal expansion coefficient (β T_m ≈ 1 for an ideal gas); this is the linear short-stack / standing-wave criterion of Swift 1988 — above the critical gradient the stack amplifies the wave, below it the same interaction pumps heat — not a closed-form performance law for every travelling-wave regenerator.
- temperature gradient along the stack steeper than the critical gradient set by the acoustic pressure and displacement amplitudes
- a resonant gas column
gas · temperature gradient requiredrefs [4] - 04
- 05acoustic → electrical · loss to thermal
- the acoustic pressure oscillation is mechanically coupled through a movable piston, diaphragm, rolling element or liquid interface so that the triboelectric surfaces undergo repeated contact–separation or sliding motion
refs [5] - 06electrical → electricalrefs [6] [7]
- 07electrical → electrical · loss to thermal
- electrodes on the charged surfaces connected through a load
refs [8]
Evidence for the complete composition · 0
No source on record for this exact composition. The sources below support the individual steps, not the route as a whole.
Evidence for the constituent relations · 8
- [1]O. Hahn, F. Strassmann. Über den Nachweis und das Verhalten der bei der Bestrahlung des Urans mittels Neutronen entstehenden Erdalkalimetalle (1939)
- [2]O. R. Frisch. Physical evidence for the division of heavy nuclei under neutron bombardment (1939)
- [3]A. Bejan. Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics (4th ed.) (2016)
- [4]G. W. Swift. Thermoacoustic engines (1988)
- [5]Y. Li et al.. High-temperature energy harvesting via thermoacoustic-triboelectric hybridization: Design, modelling, and application demonstration (2026)
- [6]F.-R. Fan, Z.-Q. Tian, Z. L. Wang. Flexible triboelectric generator (2012)
- [7]D. J. Lacks, T. Shinbrot. Long-standing and unresolved issues in triboelectric charging (2019)
- [8]H. B. Radousky, H. Liang. Energy harvesting: an integrated view of materials, devices and applications (2012)
Cite this route
Physical Transformation Atlas (2026). route p-5e184fb31e: Nuclear binding-energy difference → Nuclear fission → Temperature gradient → Thermoacoustic effect → Acoustic wave → Triboelectric effect → Separated surface charge → Electrical work. Dataset revision rbfbfcbb70e57 (hash of the canonical data). https://physical-transformation-atlas.wldud5192.workers.dev/path/5e184fb31e
Ids and matrix addresses are stable across revisions; the revision hash identifies the exact canonical files the record was compiled from and is meta.data_hash in every /api export. Reuse terms: see the license field in any export.