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Aqueous thermogalvanic cells with a high Seebeck coefficient for low-grade heat harvest

Author

Listed:
  • Jiangjiang Duan

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

  • Guang Feng

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

  • Boyang Yu

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

  • Jia Li

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

  • Ming Chen

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

  • Peihua Yang

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

  • Jiamao Feng

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

  • Kang Liu

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

  • Jun Zhou

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

Abstract

Thermogalvanic cells offer a cheap, flexible and scalable route for directly converting heat into electricity. However, achieving a high output voltage and power performance simultaneously from low-grade thermal energy remains challenging. Here, we introduce strong chaotropic cations (guanidinium) and highly soluble amide derivatives (urea) into aqueous ferri/ferrocyanide ([Fe(CN)6]4−/[Fe(CN)6]3−) electrolytes to significantly boost their thermopowers. The corresponding Seebeck coefficient and temperature-insensitive power density simultaneously increase from 1.4 to 4.2 mV K−1 and from 0.4 to 1.1 mW K−2 m−2, respectively. The results reveal that guanidinium and urea synergistically enlarge the entropy difference of the redox couple and significantly increase the Seebeck effect. As a demonstration, we design a prototype module that generates a high open-circuit voltage of 3.4 V at a small temperature difference of 18 K. This thermogalvanic cell system, which features high Seebeck coefficient and low cost, holds promise for the efficient harvest of low-grade thermal energy.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiangjiang Duan & Guang Feng & Boyang Yu & Jia Li & Ming Chen & Peihua Yang & Jiamao Feng & Kang Liu & Jun Zhou, 2018. "Aqueous thermogalvanic cells with a high Seebeck coefficient for low-grade heat harvest," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-07625-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07625-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Isuru E. Gunathilaka & Jennifer M. Pringle & Luke A. O’Dell, 2021. "Operando magnetic resonance imaging for mapping of temperature and redox species in thermo-electrochemical cells," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Denis Artyukhov & Nikolay Gorshkov & Maria Vikulova & Nikolay Kiselev & Artem Zemtsov & Ivan Artyukhov, 2022. "Power Supply of Wireless Sensors Based on Energy Conversion of Separated Gas Flows by Thermoelectrochemical Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, February.
    3. Xu, Z.Y. & Wang, R.Z. & Yang, Chun, 2019. "Perspectives for low-temperature waste heat recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 1037-1043.
    4. Shuaihua Wang & Yuchen Li & Mao Yu & Qikai Li & Huan Li & Yupeng Wang & Jiajia Zhang & Kang Zhu & Weishu Liu, 2024. "High-performance cryo-temperature ionic thermoelectric liquid cell developed through a eutectic solvent strategy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Denis Artyukhov & Nikolay Kiselev & Nikolay Gorshkov & Natalya Kovyneva & Olga Ganzha & Maria Vikulova & Alexander Gorokhovsky & Peter Offor & Elena Boychenko & Igor Burmistrov, 2021. "Harvesting Waste Thermal Energy Using a Surface-Modified Carbon Fiber-Based Thermo-Electrochemical Cell," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-12, January.
    6. Cheng Chi & Gongze Liu & Meng An & Yufeng Zhang & Dongxing Song & Xin Qi & Chunyu Zhao & Zequn Wang & Yanzheng Du & Zizhen Lin & Yang Lu & He Huang & Yang Li & Chongjia Lin & Weigang Ma & Baoling Huan, 2023. "Reversible bipolar thermopower of ionic thermoelectric polymer composite for cyclic energy generation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Jung, Sang-Mun & Kwon, Jaesub & Lee, Jinhyeon & Lee, Byung-Jo & Kim, Kyu-Su & Yu, Dong-Seok & Kim, Yong-Tae, 2021. "Hybrid thermo-electrochemical energy harvesters for conversion of low-grade thermal energy into electricity via tungsten electrodes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    8. Chen, Ruihua & Xu, Weicong & Deng, Shuai & Zhao, Ruikai & Choi, Siyoung Q. & Zhao, Li, 2023. "Towards the Carnot efficiency with a novel electrochemical heat engine based on the Carnot cycle: Thermodynamic considerations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    9. Burmistrov, Igor & Gorshkov, Nikolay & Kovyneva, Natalya & Kolesnikov, Evgeny & Khaidarov, Bekzod & Karunakaran, Gopalu & Cho, Eun-Bum & Kiselev, Nikolay & Artyukhov, Denis & Kuznetsov, Denis & Gorokh, 2020. "High seebeck coefficient thermo-electrochemical cell using nickel hollow microspheres electrodes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 1-8.

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