Sun Xiaolong, Hou Yue, Zhu Zheng, Zhu Bo, Ding Qianfeng, Zhou Wenjie, Yan Sijia, Xia Zhanglong, Liu Yong, Hou Youmin, Yu Yuan, Wang Ziyu
The Institute of Technological Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro-structures of Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
Nat Commun. 2025 May 7;16(1):4220. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-59602-8.
Flexible thermoelectric devices enable direct energy conversion between heat and electrical energy, making them ideal for wearable electronics and personal thermal management. Yet, current devices lack functional module expansion, which limits the customization for diverse energy-harvesting heat sources and complicates their assembly to meet the specific power requirements of electrical appliances. Moreover, existing devices cannot be stacked to enhance thermoelectric cooling performance while maintaining flexibility and self-healing capabilities. Here, by selectively encapsulating liquid metal electrodes with carbon nanotube-doped self-healing materials with increased thermal conductivity, we substantially improve heat transfer across thermoelectric legs, thereby maximizing energy conversion efficiency. The device achieves a normalized power density of 3.14 μW⋅cm ⋅ K, setting a benchmark for self-healing thermoelectric devices. Benefiting from self-healing materials and liquid metal, the device demonstrates both self-healing capabilities and modular assembly, greatly expanding the application scenarios of flexible thermoelectric devices in wearable power generation and refrigeration.
柔性热电装置能够实现热能与电能之间的直接能量转换，使其成为可穿戴电子设备和个人热管理的理想选择。然而，目前的装置缺乏功能模块扩展，这限制了对各种能量收集热源的定制，并使它们的组装变得复杂，难以满足电器的特定功率要求。此外，现有装置无法堆叠以提高热电冷却性能，同时保持柔韧性和自愈能力。在此，通过用具有更高热导率的碳纳米管掺杂自愈材料选择性地封装液态金属电极，我们大幅改善了跨热电腿的热传递，从而使能量转换效率最大化。该装置实现了3.14 μW⋅cm ⋅ K的归一化功率密度，为自愈热电装置树立了标杆。受益于自愈材料和液态金属，该装置展现出自愈能力和模块化组装，极大地扩展了柔性热电装置在可穿戴发电和制冷中的应用场景。
