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Radial thermoelectric generator fabricated from n‐ and p‐type conducting polymers
Author(s) -
Me Akanksha K.,
Meek Olivia,
Eng Arnold J.,
Yee Shan K.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.44060
Subject(s) - materials science , thermoelectric generator , thermoelectric effect , conductive polymer , polymer , tellurium , polymer chemistry , composite material , open circuit voltage , thermoelectric materials , chemical engineering , thermal conductivity , optoelectronics , voltage , electrical engineering , thermodynamics , metallurgy , engineering , physics
Electrically conducting polymers are attractive for thermoelectric generators (TEGs) because of their low thermal conductivity and solution processability. In this article, we report on the performance of a radial device made from n‐ and p‐type polymers printed on paper substrates. Our thermoelectric (TE) models predict an optimized geometry for a radial device that operates under natural convective cooling alone, and herein, we report on the fabrication and performance of this new organic TEG. We used poly(nickel‐1,1,2,2‐ethenetetrathiolate) blended with poly(vinylidene fluoride)/dimethyl sulfoxide as the n‐type material and poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrene sulfonate) with Tellurium nanowires as the p‐type materials coated on paper to evaluate the TE performance. The radial TEG produced an open‐circuit voltage of 85 mV and a power density of 15 nW/cm 2 under a 45‐K temperature difference. This proof of concept was the first demonstration of a polymer‐based radial TEG that accommodated a hot pipe as the heat source and did not require active cooling because of heat spreading. This is promising for scalable and low cost TE devices for self‐powered sensor networks. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 44060.