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What did Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel discover about current flowing between hot platinum electrodes?
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thermionic power converter
Schematic of a basic thermionic converter.
In 1853, the French physicist Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel reported that only a few volts were required to drive an electric current through the air between high-temperature platinum electrodes. This observation contributed to the early understanding of how electricity can be conducted through gaseous matter, or plasma, adjacent to a heated body.1