Liang Lirong, Lv Haicai, Shi Xiao-Lei, Liu Zhuoxin, Chen Guangming, Chen Zhi-Gang, Sun Guoxing
Joint Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, SAR, Macau, China.
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
Mater Horiz. 2021 Oct 4;8(10):2750-2760. doi: 10.1039/d1mh00775k.
The design of effective energy systems is crucial for the development of flexible and wearable electronics. Regarding the direct conversion of heat into electricity, thermoelectrochemical cells (TECs) are particularly suitable for low-grade heat harvesting to enable flexible and wearable applications, despite the fact that the electrolyte leakage and complex packaging issues of conventional liquid-based TECs await to be further addressed. Herein, a quasi-solid-state TEC is assembled using the polyacrylamide/acidified-single-walled carbon nanotube (PAAm/a-SWCNT) composite hydrogel, developed a facile free-radical polymerization route with tin(IV) chloride/tin(II) chloride (Sn/Sn) as the redox couple. The as-fabricated TEC with a 0.6 wt% a-SWCNT content presents a large thermoelectrochemical Seebeck coefficient of 1.59 ± 0.07 mV K and exhibits excellent stability in thermoelectrochemical performance against large mechanical stretching and deformation. Owing to this superior stretchability, the as-fabricated TEC is further assembled into an energy-autonomous strain sensor, which shows high sensitivity. The strategy of utilizing a quasi-solid-state TEC for energy-autonomous strain sensing unveils the great potential of heat-to-electricity conversion in flexible and wearable electronics.
高效能量系统的设计对于柔性和可穿戴电子设备的发展至关重要。关于将热直接转化为电，热电化学电池（TEC）特别适合于低品位热收集，以实现柔性和可穿戴应用，尽管传统基于液体的TEC存在电解质泄漏和复杂封装问题，有待进一步解决。在此，使用聚丙烯酰胺/酸化单壁碳纳米管（PAAm/a-SWCNT）复合水凝胶组装了一种准固态TEC，开发了一种以四氯化锡/二氯化锡（Sn/Sn）作为氧化还原对的简便自由基聚合路线。所制备的a-SWCNT含量为0.6 wt%的TEC呈现出1.59±0.07 mV K的大热电化学塞贝克系数，并且在面对大的机械拉伸和变形时，其热电化学性能表现出优异的稳定性。由于这种卓越的拉伸性，所制备的TEC进一步组装成一个能量自主的应变传感器，该传感器显示出高灵敏度。利用准固态TEC进行能量自主应变传感的策略揭示了热到电转换在柔性和可穿戴电子设备中的巨大潜力。
