热释电(Pyroelectric)纳米发电机是一种能量收集装置，它能够利用纳米结构的热释电材料把外界的热能转换成电能。通常，热能的收集主要依靠器件两端的温差驱动载流子扩散的塞贝克效应。 然而，在环境中温度是空间均匀分布的，并没有梯度，例如我们日常生活的户外。在这种情况下，塞贝克效应不能用来收集随时间变化的热能，热释电效应是必须的选择，它是关于自发极化在某些各向异性的固体中随温度涨落的结果。 佐治亚理工学院的王中林教授于2012年首次发明了热释电纳米发电机。 通过收集废弃的热量作为能源，这种新型的纳米发电机在无线传感器、温度成像、医学诊断以及个人电子产品方面都具有潜在的应用。

Pyroelectricity (from the Greek pyr, fire, and electricity) is the ability of certain materials to generate a temporary voltage when they are heated or cooled. The change in temperature modifies the positions of the atoms slightly within the crystal structure, such that the polarization of the material changes. This polarization change gives rise to a voltage across the crystal. If the temperature stays constant at its new value, the pyroelectric voltage gradually disappears due to leakage current (the leakage can be due to electrons moving through the crystal, ions moving through the air, current leaking through a voltmeter attached across the crystal, etc.).