Monolithic Carbon Nanotube Film Thermoelectric Generator

• Main Authors: Hasan, Mohammed Nazibul, Muthalif, Asan G. A., Saleh, Tanveer, Zhang, Zhi-Bin, Mohamed Ali, Mohamed Sultan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE Xplore 2024
• Subjects: T Technology (General)
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/115946/1/IEEE.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/115946/; https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10379599

The design and development of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) with minimal internal resistance is crucial for achieving high output power in self-powered wearable technologies. This work presents a novel flexible TEG comprising single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) thermoelements, fabricated through a sacrificial molding process. Different from the traditional TEG structural design, our TEG’s p- and n-type SWCNT thermoelements are formed monolithically without any interconnections. This integration eliminates the presence of internal resistance within the device. Equipped with eight pairs of the p- and n-type SWCNT thermoelements, the TEG exhibits an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of ∼21.82 mV and an internal resistance of ∼16.56 �, corresponding to a maximum output power of approximately 7.19 μW at a temperature gradient (1T ) of 50 ◦C. Additionally, the TEG demonstrated its capability to harvest energy from a fingertip, generating a Voc of around 2.58 mV at a 1T of 8.8 ◦C. These results highlight the potential of the monolithically formed SWCNT thermoelements for achieving high-power density TEGs.