학술논문

Output Power Characterization of Flexible Thermoelectric Power Generators
Document Type
Journal Article
Source
IEICE Transactions on Electronics. 2022, E105.C(10):639
Subject
Seebeck coefficient
conductive fabric
flexible material
flexible thermoelectric power generator
Language
English
ISSN
0916-8524
1745-1353
Abstract
To facilitate the reuse of environmental waste heat in our society, we have developed high-efficiency flexible thermoelectric power generators (TEPGs). In this study, we investigated the thermoelectromotive force (TEMF) and output power of a prototype device with 50 pairs of Π-type structures using a homemade measurement system for flexible TEPGs in order to evaluate their characteristics along the thickness direction. The prototype device consisted of C fabrics (CAFs) used as p-type materials, NiCu fabrics (NCFs) used as n-type materials, and Ag fabrics (AGFs) used as metal electrodes. Applying a temperature difference of 5K, we obtained a TEMF of 150μV and maximum output power of 6.4pW. The obtained TEMF was smaller than that expected from the Seebeck coefficients of each fabric, which is considered to be mainly because of the influence of contact thermal resistance at the semiconductor-fabric/AGF interfaces.