Thermoelectric Material Property Measurement for Flexible Films

........................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND ..........................................................................................1 1.1 Overview of Power Harvesting Applications ....................................................1 1.1.1 Wearable Electronic Devices ..............................................................1 1.1.2 Implantable Biomedical Devices ........................................................3 1.2 Existing Power Sources .....................................................................................4 1.2.1 Conventional Power Sources ..............................................................4 1.2.2 Piezoelectric Power Source.................................................................6 1.2.3 Electromagnetic Power Source ...........................................................7 1.2.4 Electrostatic Power Source .................................................................7 1.3 Overview of Thermoelectric Generators ...........................................................8 1.3.1 Seebeck Effect ..................................................................................10 1.3.2 Figure of Merit ..................................................................................11 1.4 Characterization Methods for Thermoelectric Properties ................................12 1.4.1 Seebeck Coefficient ..........................................................................12