Liu Yijie,Wang Xiaodong,Hou Shuaihang,Wu Zuoxu,Wang Jian,Mao Jun,Zhang Qian,Liu Zhiguo,Cao Feng
Flexible thermoelectric generators can power wearable electronics by harvesting body heat. However, existing thermoelectric materials rarely realize high flexibility and output properties simultaneously. Here we present a facile, cost-effective, and scalable two-step impregnation method for fabricating a three-dimensional thermoelectric network with excellent elasticity and superior thermoelectric performance. The reticular construction endows this material with ultra-light weight (0.28 g cm −3 ), ultra-low thermal conductivity (0.04 W m −1 K −1 ), moderate softness (0.03 MPa), and high elongation (>100%). The obtained network-based flexible thermoelectric generator achieves a pretty high output power of 4 μW cm −2 , even comparable to state-of-the-art bulk-based flexible thermoelectric generators.
Although triblock polycarbonate thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) have recently attracted great interests due to their biodegradability, insufficient attentions have been paid to improving the elastomeric properties. Through a tandem reaction strategy involving CO 2 / allyl glycidyl ether (AGE) / cyclohexene oxide (CHO), poly(cyclohexene carbonate)-b-poly(allyl glycidyl ether carbonate)-b-poly(cyclohexene carbonate) (PCAC) is successfully synthesized using a metal-free Lewis acid-base pair catalyst. The synthesized PCACs are pure well-defined ABA triblock all-polycarbonate, which is supported by 1 H NMR, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY). A simple modification by grafting alkylthiol chains to PCAC results in excellent TPEs named PCAC-g-S-C a H 2a+1 (PCASaC). The synthesized TPEs are characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and mechanical test. They demonstrate a semi-network and semi-domain phase separation structure, wide service temperature range, good strength, high elongation, and extremely high elastic recovery properties. This low-cost, biodegradable, high-performance TPE shows great potential for applications in biomedical, wearable products, sports equipment, and other fields.