High Power Density Electrochemical Thermocells for Inexpensively Harvesting Low‐Grade Thermal Energy

• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201605652
• Publication Date: 2017-01-25T13:52:59Z
• Authors: Long Zhang; Taewoo Kim; Na Li; Tae June Kang; Jun Chen; Jennifer M. Pringle; Mei Zhang; Ali H. Kazim; Shaoli Fang; Carter Haines; Danah Al‐Masri; Baratunde A. Cola; Joselito M. Razal; Jiangtao Di; Stephen Beirne; Douglas R. MacFar...; Anuncia Gonzalez‐...; Sibi Mathew; Yong Hyup Kim; Gordon Wallace; Ray H. Baughman
• Keywords: density; inexpensively; thermocells; high; electrochemical; 02 engineering and technology; harvesting; 7. Clean energy; thermal; power; low-grade; Engineering; Physical Sciences and Mathematics; 0210 nano-technology; energy

Continuously operating thermo-electrochemical cells (thermocells) are of interest for harvesting low-grade waste thermal energy because of their potentially low cost compared with conventional thermoelectrics. Pt-free thermocells devised here provide an output power of 12 W m-2 for an interelectrode temperature difference (ΔT) of 81 °C, which is sixfold higher power than previously reported for planar thermocells operating at ambient pressure.