(Invited) New Thermoelectric Device Architecture Aiming for Low $/W and Wearable Application

Abstract

In this talk, we are going to discuss about modification in thermoelectric device architecture for low $/W and wearable application. We propose a way to lower the $/W value with a decent power output of a thermoelectric device by changing the device architecture. We experimentally demonstrated that more than half reduction in $/W value without increasing the thermoelectric figure of merit, zT. This reduction is equivalent to zT ~ 6, since increasing zT results in low $/W. The device architecture we proposed should be useful to recover low quality waste heat, which is abundant and could be harvested as long as the $/W value is low enough in general. In the second part of the talk, we present two types of wearable thermoelectric devices based on bulk inorganic materials; one is bracelet type and the other is mat style. Utilizing high performance that can be extracted from the bulk inorganic materials, the devices based on the materials are bendable and flexible. Performance of the device attached on a human body is compared with theoretical analysis based on a simplified human thermoregulatory model we developed.