Colossal thermo-hydro-electrochemical voltage generation for self-sustainable operation of electronics

Yufan Zhang,Anirban Chakraborty,Choongho Yu,Ahrum Sohn

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-25606-3

Yufan Zhang, Anirban Chakraborty + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25606-3

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Journal: Nature Communications	Publication Date: Sep 6, 2021
Citations: 15	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Texas A&M University

Abstract

Thermoelectrics are suited to converting dissipated heat into electricity for operating electronics, but the small voltage (~0.1 mV K−1) from the Seebeck effect has been one of the major hurdles in practical implementation. Here an approach with thermo-hydro-electrochemical effects can generate a large thermal-to-electrical energy conversion factor (TtoE factor), −87 mV K−1 with low-cost carbon steel electrodes and a solid-state polyelectrolyte made of polyaniline and polystyrene sulfonate (PANI:PSS). We discovered that the thermo-diffusion of water in PANI:PSS under a temperature gradient induced less (or more) water on the hotter (or colder) side, raising (or lowering) the corrosion overpotential in the hotter (or colder) side and thereby generating output power between the electrodes. Our findings are expected to facilitate subsequent research for further increasing the TtoE factor and utilizing dissipated thermal energy.

Highlights

Thermoelectrics are suited to converting dissipated heat into electricity for operating electronics, but the small voltage (~0.1 mV K−1) from the Seebeck effect has been one of the major hurdles in practical implementation
To induce a thermally induced voltage on the order of 1–10 mV K−1, a few different mechanisms have been recently reported, including the thermodiffusion of electron/ion mixture[24,25] and temperature-dependent redox reactions with redox couples in liquid states[26,27,28]. It appears that solid-state polyelectrolytes utilizing the Soret effect are the best option for high thermopower so far, and their highest thermopower values were obtained at unusually high (70–100%) relative humidity (RH) rather than typical room humidity (~50% RH)
Our device consists of polyaniline and polystyrene sulfonate (PANI:PSS) as a solid-state electrolyte and carbon steel foils as electrodes (Fig. 1a)

Summary

Introduction

Thermoelectrics are suited to converting dissipated heat into electricity for operating electronics, but the small voltage (~0.1 mV K−1) from the Seebeck effect has been one of the major hurdles in practical implementation. Our device consists of polyaniline and polystyrene sulfonate (PANI:PSS) as a solid-state electrolyte and carbon steel foils as electrodes (Fig. 1a).

Results

Conclusion