Porous organic filler for high efficiency of flexible thermoelectric generator. (March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jung, Sung-Jin; Shin, Joonchul; Lim, Sang-Soon; Kwon, Beomjin; Baek, Seung-Hyub; Kim, Seong Keun; Park, Hyung-Ho; Kim, Jin-Sang
• Is Part Of: Nano energy. Volume 81(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Subjects: Flexible thermoelectric module -- Porous PDMS filler -- Low thermal conductivity -- Bi2Te3 -- Filler thickness; Nanoscience -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; Nanostructured materials -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Technological innovations -- Periodicals; Nanoscience; Nanostructured materials; Nanotechnology; Power resources -- Technological innovations; Periodicals; 621.042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105604
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2211-2855

Abstract

Abstract: Flexible thermoelectric modules (TEMs) are often built with a polymer filler as structural support. However, the filler may serve as a thermal bypass, leading to reduced temperature difference across a TEM and degradation of the output. Herein, we present flexible TEMs made of porous PDMS fillers and Bi2 Te3 -based thermoelectric legs. The heat conduction through the filler is suppressed by leveraging the low thermal conductivity of porous PDMS (0.08 W/m∙K), leading to an increase in the temperature difference across the TEMs. The porous PDMS TEM exhibits 23% enhanced power density and a figure of merit ( ZT ) of 0.75 around the room temperature. Lastly, the efficacy of the porous PDMS TEM is demonstrated by testing the TEMs with body heat. Our approach would offer a promising insight into the flexible TEM designs. Graphical Abstract: ga1 Highlights: Porous organic filler (0.08 W/m K) increased the temperature difference across thermoelectric legs. Filler thickness determined a performance of a thermoelectric module. The device with a thin filler was able to withstand a bending radius of 15 mm. Internal Δ T reached 91.5% of external Δ T thanks to the novel structure of our approach. A reduced conduction via the filler lead to ZT of 0.75.