Physics-guided co-designing flexible thermoelectrics with techno-economic sustainability for low-grade heat harvesting.
Sci Adv
; 9(2): eadf5701, 2023 Jan 13.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36638175
ABSTRACT
Flexible thermoelectric harvesting of omnipresent spatial thermodynamic energy, though promising in low-grade waste heat recovery (<100°C), is still far from industrialization because of its unequivocal cost-ineffectiveness caused by low thermoelectric efficiency and power-cost coupled device topology. Here, we demonstrate unconventional upcycling of low-grade heat via physics-guided rationalized flexible thermoelectrics, without increasing total heat input or tailoring material properties, into electricity with a power-cost ratio (W/US$) enhancement of 25.3% compared to conventional counterparts. The reduced material usage (44%) contributes to device power-cost "decoupling," leading to geometry-dependent optimal electrical matching for output maximization. This offers an energy consumption reduction (19.3%), electricity savings (0.24 kWh W-1), and CO2 emission reduction (0.17 kg W-1) for large-scale industrial production, fundamentally reshaping the R&D route of flexible thermoelectrics for techno-economic sustainable heat harvesting. Our findings highlight a facile yet cost-effective strategy not only for low-grade heat harvesting but also for electronic co-design in heat management/recovery frontiers.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Health_economic_evaluation
Language:
En
Journal:
Sci Adv
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: