Self powered Flexible Thermoelectric Generator for Wearable Application

Abstract

Thermoelectric (TE) technology is an exceptionally promising method for directly converting thermal energy into electrical power and vice versa. The TE technology is a green renewable energy technology. However, several factors are responsible for facilitating TE devices to offer low-cost electricity and sustainable energy technology without any mechanically moving components, including no harmful wastes that dam- age environmental health. Even after achieving high performance, TE devices hinge on various factors, such as the properties of the material and the strategy employed for their applications in commercial sectors. The substantial progress for readily available energy resources has put forth the biggest task of providing consistent and optimal power for various devices, from sensors to wearable applications. An already existing commercial thermoelectric generator (TEG) is categorised as rigid bulk TEGs to eliminate the rigid components of a TEG. Firstly, replacing the copper electrode plate, a conductive metal-coated polyester textile is utilized to attain a flexible interconnecting electrode structure. In addition to this the ceramic substrate is discarded, and the polymer filler replaces the air gaps to achieve flexibility. Lastly, the TE material in the bulk form is reduced to a thin film on cellulose fabric to represent a textile TEG, which represents a thin film. The performance analysis of the bulk and the thin film TEG is compared to better understand the future aspects of wearable technologies. In the present work for the bulk flexible thermoelectric generators (FTEG), we propose silicone elastomer as a compliant filling material for FTEG with conductive fabric as electrodes interconnect for bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) based TE legs, which permit TEGs to cover up curved surfaces without leaving any air gaps. newline