Flexible nanocomposite electrodes with optimized hybrid structure for improved low-grade heat harvest via thermocells  

作　　者：Ziwei Mo Jiaqian Zhou Xin Lu Lirong Liang Fusheng Liu Zhuoxin Liu Guangming Chen 

机构地区：[1]College of Materials Science and Engineering,Shenzhen University,Shenzhen 518055,China [2]State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering,Sichuan University,Chengdu 610065,China

出　　处：《Science China Chemistry》2023年第6期1814-1823,共10页中国科学（化学英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52103089);the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation(2023A1515012120);the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program(JCYJ20220531100815035,RCBS2022100-8093126069);the Opening Project of State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering(sklpme2022-4-08)。

摘　　要：Thermal energy is ubiquitous and constantly generated in nature and society.Thermocells(TECs)represent a promising energyconversion technology that can directly translate thermal energy into electricity with a large thermopower,thus having attracted considerable attention in recent years.Nevertheless,the use of noble platinum electrodes in TECs has substantially limited their widespread applications,as the scarcity of platinum element increases the cost of materials,and its intrinsic rigidity is not conducive to flexible and wearable applications under heat sources with complex surface geometry.Herein,we propose a facile hybridizing route to constructing flexible electrodes with optimized nanostructures.The flexible composite electrode is fabricated by decorating a single-walled carbon nanotube network with conducting polypyrrole nanospheres through controlled electrochemical deposition.With refined interfacial nanostructures,the resultant composite film can facilitate carrier transport/transfer at the electrolyte-electrode interface,and thereby shows superior overall thermoelectrochemical performance to noble platinum electrode.The TEC employing the flexible composite electrodes yields a maximum output power of 2.555μW under the temperature difference of 30 K,and a device comprising 6 TEC units is assembled to efficiently utilize waste heat and human body heat,revealing the high potential of low-grade heat harvesting.

关 键 词：NANOCOMPOSITES thermocells carbon nanotubes POLYMERS 

分 类 号：TB383.1[一般工业技术—材料科学与工程] TM915[电气工程—电力电子与电力传动]