This paper focuses on the production of electricity using a thermoelectric generator placed on the human body connected to a dc-dc converter. The small difference in temperature between the hot heat source (e.g. the human body, Tb = 37 ◦C) and the cold heat source (e.g. ambient air, Ta = 22 ◦C), associated with a poor quality thermal coupling (mainly with the cold source), leads to a very low t...

In the absence of phonon contribution, a weakly coupled single orbital noninteracting quantum dot thermoelectric setup is known to operate reversibly as a Carnot engine. This reversible operation, however, occurs only in the ideal case of vanishing coupling to the contacts, wherein the transmission function is delta shaped, and under open-circuit conditions, where no electrical power is extract...

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We report the fabrication and characterization of segmented element power generator modules of 16 x 16 thermoelectric elements consisting of 0.8 mm thick Bi2Te3 and 50 μm thick ErAs:(InGaAs)1-x(InAlAs)x with 0.6% ErAs by volume. Erbium Arsenide metallic nanoparticles are incorporated to create scattering centers for middle and long wavelength phonons, and to form local potential barriers for el...

We report the fabrication and characterization of segmented element power generator modules of 254 thermoelectric elements. The element is 1 mm × 1 mm in area, which consists of 300 μm thickness Bi2Te3 and 50 μm thickness ErAs:(InGaAs)1-x(InAlAs)x, so that each segment can work at different temperature ranges. Erbium arsenide metallic nanoparticles are incorporated to create scattering centers ...

Thermoelectric power generators are used to convert heat into electricity. Like any other heat engine, the performance of a thermoelectric generator increases as the temperature difference on the sides increases. It is generally assumed that as more heat is forced through the thermoelectric legs, their performance increases. Therefore, insulations are typically used to minimize the heat losses ...

Thermoelectric efficiency is defined as the ratio of power delivered to the load of a device to the rate of heat flow from the source. Till date, it has been studied in presence of thermodynamic constraints set by the Onsager reciprocal relation and the second law of thermodynamics that severely bottleneck the thermoelectric efficiency. In this study, we propose a pathway to bypass these constr...

This work presents advancements in dispenser-printed thick film thermoelectric materials for the fabrication of planar and printable thermoelectric energy generators. The thermoelectric properties of the printed thermoelectric materials were measured as a function of temperature. The maximum dimensionless figures of merit (ZTs) at 302 K for the n-type Bi2Te3-epoxy composite and the p-type Sb2Te...

UNLABELLED The thermoelectric properties of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) ( PEDOT PSS) and tellurium- PEDOT PSS (Te- PEDOT PSS) hybrid composites were enhanced via simple chemical treatment. The performance of thermoelectric materials is determined by their electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and Seebeck coefficient. Significant enhancement of the elec...

Advanced thermoelectric microdevices integrated into thermal management packages and low power, electrical power source systems are of interest for a variety of space and terrestrial applications. By making use of macroscopic film technology, microgenerators operating across relatively small temperature differences can be conceptualized for a variety of high heat flux or low heat flux heat sour...