Thermoelectric Generator: Materials and Applications in Wearable Health Monitoring Sensors and Internet of Things Devices

• Published in: Advanced materials technologies 2022-05, Vol.7 (5), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Hasan, Md. Nazibul, Nafea, Marwan, Nayan, Nafarizal, Mohamed Ali, Mohamed Sultan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: biomedical devices; internet of things; thermoelectric generator; thermoelectric materials; wearable sensors
• ISSN: 2365-709X; 2365-709X
• DOI: 10.1002/admt.202101203

Wearable sensors and biomedical devices have attracted a great deal of attention among users. Despite technological advancements in this field, a mixture of both progress and setbacks has been witnessed. The limited battery life of these devices for long‐term operation remains a major challenge. In this context, thermoelectric generators have emerged as potential candidates for harvesting energy from temperature gradients to power wearable sensors and devices. This review focuses on the working mechanism of a thermoelectric generator, as well as the current progress of a variety of promising and widely used inorganic and organic thermoelectric materials. Encouragingly, the highest ZT values of 2.27, 2.5, 2.8, 2.3, and 1.85 are obtained for bismuth telluride, lead telluride, tin selenide, copper selenide, and magnesium antimonide, respectively, at various temperature ranges. Meanwhile, organic materials such as poly (3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate, polyaniline composite, and graphdiyne showed the highest ZT values of 0.75, 0.74, and 4.8, respectively, at near‐room temperature. Furthermore, numerous novel thermoelectric generator‐powered wearable health monitoring sensors and Internet of Things devices are also presented. Finally, the current challenges and perspectives on the future development of thermoelectric generator, in particular for efficient materials and self‐powered devices, are also discussed. Thermoelectric generators have enormous potential to power wearables and portable electronics. This paper presents an overview of the thermoelectric energy generation mechanism, and covers state‐of‐the‐art inorganic and organic thermoelectric materials as well as emerging applications such as wearable sensors, biomedical devices, and the Internet of Things devices. Current challenges and perspectives for future progress of thermoelectric generators are also discussed.