High performance flexible thermoelectric generator using bulk legs and integrated electrodes for human energy harvesting

Abstract

Flexible thermoelectric generator (FTEG) shows the possibility as a power supply for wearable devices, where FTEG can convert human body heat into electrical energy based on Seebeck effect. The heteromorphic electrode with an integrated design of electrode and heat sink was applied to the cold side of FTEG to improve heat dissipation capacity. The application of heteromorphic electrode shows strong heat dissipation capacity by directly heat dissipation at cold end, and leading to the maximum improvement of 44.1X in the maximum output power than FTEG with conventional electrodes. Insulation measures on the heat source and appropriate choice of the wind speed are both beneficial for the improvement of the output performance of FTEG. For human energy harvesting, FTEG with heteromorphic electrodes achieves power density of 21.3 μW/cm2 under natural convection, and 116.1 μW/cm2 under forced convection (2.1 m/s) based on the device’s area. The high power level of FTEG with heteromorphic electrodes shows great potential for the practical power supply for the wearable devices.