Open AccessPractical evaluation of organic polymer thermoelectrics by large‐area R2R processing on flexible substrates
Author(s) -
Søndergaard Roar R.,
Hösel Markus,
Espinosa Nieves,
Jørgensen Mikkel,
Krebs Frederik C.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
energy science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.638
H-Index - 29
ISSN - 2050-0505
DOI - 10.1002/ese3.8
Subject(s) - pedot:pss , thermoelectric effect , materials science , polystyrene sulfonate , substrate (aquarium) , roll to roll processing , nanotechnology , polystyrene , thermoelectric materials , polymer , thin film , optoelectronics , layer (electronics) , composite material , thermal conductivity , oceanography , physics , geology , thermodynamics
Here, we present a process based on roll‐to‐roll (R2R) technology which allows for very fast processing of polymer thermoelectric ( TE ) devices and we furthermore demonstrate a simplified but more efficient way of serially connecting these devices by means of R2R thin‐film processing. The new device architecture makes it possible to use only one TE material (opposed to two materials which are employed in well‐known Peltier elements), and a total of 18,000 serially connected junctions were prepared by flexoprinting of silver electrodes and by rotary screen printing of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) ( PEDOT ):polystyrene sulfonate ( PSS ) as the TE material. Testing of devices revealed that the new architecture clearly showed to be functioning as expected, but also pointed toward challenges for thin‐film TE development which is the influence of the substrate thickness on the thermal gradient over a device and the currently low performance available. A life‐cycle assessment ( LCA ) was carried out in order to evaluate the sustainability of the new architecture and to estimate the requirements for development of a successful technology.