Paper-based thermoelectric (PTE) generators have recently emerged as a green technology that can help alleviate environment pollution and the energy crisis. In this work, a PTE generator was prepared by coating a post-treatment-free thermoelectric ink consisting of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) doped with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium:tricyanomethanide (EMIM:TCM) onto the card paper. By tuning the molar concentration of the EMIM:TCM to 0.17 M and with hot-pressing, the PTE generator showed a decent power factor (PF) value of 6.82 μW m−1K−2, which was higher than the values of PTE in the literature. This phenomenon could be attributed to the synergistic effect of high-performance thermoelectric ink (i.e., PF = 175 μW m−1K−2when deposited on glass slide) and the hot-pressing. The hot-pressing enhanced the packing density of cellulose fibers and the associated PEDOT:PSS hybrid, which enabled the formation of long-range conductive paths. In addition, the PTE had good mechanical stability, indicated by no significant change of the power factor values after cyclic folding 10,000 times. Moreover, the structure of as-prepared PTE could be easily tuned into different shapes that are promising for the preparation of flexible wearable thermoelectric generators.Keywords:paper-based thermoelectric;PEDOT:PSS;hierarchical structure;mechanical stability
Hongbing Li,Yudong Zong,Qijun Ding,Wenjia Han,Xia Li
Cellulose is the most abundant polymer material in nature. After being produced on the nanometer scale, it is widely used in research on flexible energy storage equipment and power supply equipment. Therefore, this study has prepared a nanocomposite thermoelectric material based on multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and carboxylated nanocellulose fiber (C-CNF) and obtained a free-standing paper-based thermoelectric generator (TEG) through a simple printing method. The equipment exhibits excellent mechanical flexibility. At the same time, the thermal conductivity is significantly reduced under the dual effects of paper and C-CNF (is reduced to 0.02–0.09 W/mK). The TEG prototype has four P-shaped feet. Under a temperature gradient of 70 K, the open circuit voltage is 3.3 mV, and the output power is up to 3.7 nW. This work not only confirms the improvement of MWCNT thermoelectric performance by C-CNF but also provides a new strategy for the preparation of low-cost and environmentally friendly thermoelectric generators.
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）