A flexible, printable, thin-film thermoelectric generator based on reduced graphene oxide–carbon nanotubes composites

Thermoelectric energy harvesting is one of the keystones of modern green renewable energy generation. Unfortunately, most conventional state-of-the-art inorganic semiconductor thermoelectric generators are expensive, fragile, and not flexible. Considering these limitations, we developed a flexible p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of materials science 2020-08, Vol.55 (24), p.10572-10581
Main Authors: Mehmood, Tariq, Kim, Jin Ho, Lee, Do-Joong, Dizhur, Sergey, Hirst, Elizabeth S., Osgood, Richard M., Sayyad, Muhammad Hassan, Munawar, Munawar Ali, Xu, Jimmy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon nanotubes
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemistry and Materials Science
Classical Mechanics
Clean energy
Composite materials
Composites & Nanocomposites
Construction materials
Crystallography and Scattering Methods
Electric generators
Electric power production
Electric properties
Energy harvesting
Graphene
Graphite
Lead sulfides
Materials Science
Nanotubes
Operating temperature
Polymer matrix composites
Polymer Sciences
Polystyrene resins
Semiconductors
Solid Mechanics
Sulfates
Sulfides
Temperature gradients
Thermoelectric generators
Thermoelectricity
Thin films
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Summary:Thermoelectric energy harvesting is one of the keystones of modern green renewable energy generation. Unfortunately, most conventional state-of-the-art inorganic semiconductor thermoelectric generators are expensive, fragile, and not flexible. Considering these limitations, we developed a flexible printable thermoelectric generator (TEG) with both n -type and p -type organic composites of reduced graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes, poly(3,4-ethylenedixoythiphene)–polystyrene sulfate, and lead sulfide composite materials. We constructed a TEG of ten alternating n – p pairs as a prototype with an effective area of 1.4 cm 2 each, which generated 13 mV thermovoltage at operating temperature difference of 77 °C. It demonstrates that its fabrication is scalable, printable, and relatively simple, and the resultant structure is flexible, conformal, and reconfigurable.
ISSN:0022-2461
1573-4803
DOI:10.1007/s10853-020-04750-z