Enhanced Heat-Electric Conversion via Photonic-Assisted Radiative Cooling.

Jeng-Yi Lee,Mao-Kuo Wei,Chu-Hsuan Lin,Ya-Xun Lin,Chieh-Lun Chi,Chih-Ming Wang,Sheng-Rui Wu

doi:10.3390/nano11040983

Jeng-Yi Lee, Mao-Kuo Wei + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11040983

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Abstract

In this paper, an inorganic polymer composite film is proposed as an effective radiative cooling device. The inherent absorption is enhanced by choosing an appropriately sized SiO2 microsphere with a diameter of 6 μm. The overall absorption at the transparent window of the atmosphere is higher than 90%, as the concentration of SiO2–PMMA composite is 35 wt%. As a result, an effective radiative device is made by a spin coating process. Moreover, the device is stacked on the cold side of a thermoelectric generator chip. It is found that the temperature gradient can be increased via the effective radiative cooling process. An enhanced Seebeck effect is observed, and the corresponding output current can be enhanced 1.67-fold via the photonic-assisted radiative cooling.

Highlights

Most of the main energy sources convert petrochemical or nuclear energy into kinetic energy, which is converted to electric power by a bulky mechanical electric generator
We utilize a passive radiative cooling device to direct the environmental heat toward outer space so that the temperature gradient between the hot and cold sides of the thermoelectric generator (TEG) can be increased
The emissivity of the SiO2 –PMMA can be modified via modifying the concentration of the SiO2 microsphere

Summary

Introduction

Most of the main energy sources convert petrochemical or nuclear energy into kinetic energy, which is converted to electric power by a bulky mechanical electric generator. Nanomaterials 2021, 11, 983 window (8 μm to 14 μm) of the atmosphere, the heat can radiate to the cold sink of outer space via the transparency window of the atmosphere. Radiative coolers based on SiC/SiO2 nanoparticle composites [5], SiO2 particle embedded poly(4-methyl-1-pentyne) (TPX) film [7], and SiO2 microsphere white paint [11] are all easy to produce at a low cost and present the capability to exceed 10 ◦ C below ambient temperature

Materials and Methods

Discussion

Conclusions