In:
Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Vol. 370, No. 6514 ( 2020-10-16), p. 342-346
Abstract:
Low-grade heat (below 373 kelvin) is abundant and ubiquitous but is
mostly wasted because present recovery technologies are not cost-effective. The liquid-state thermocell (LTC), an inexpensive and scalable
thermoelectric device, may be commercially viable for harvesting low-grade heat energy if its Carnot-relative efficiency (η r )
reaches ~5%, which is a challenging metric to achieve experimentally. We used a thermosensitive crystallization and dissolution process to induce a
persistent concentration gradient of redox ions, a highly enhanced Seebeck coefficient (~3.73 millivolts per kelvin), and suppressed thermal
conductivity in LTCs. As a result, we achieved a high η r of 11.1% for LTCs near room temperature. Our
device demonstration offers promise for cost-effective low-grade heat harvesting.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0036-8075
,
1095-9203
DOI:
10.1126/science.abd6749
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Publication Date:
2020
detail.hit.zdb_id:
128410-1
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2066996-3
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2060783-0
SSG:
11