Experimental and Computational Analyses of Temperature Distributions in Slope-Type Thin-Film Thermoelectric Generators at Different Slope Angles and Evaluation of Their Thermoelectric Performance

Abstract

Thin-film thermoelectric generators are not widely used mainly because it is difficult to provide a temperature difference (ΔT) within the generators. To solve this problem, in our previous study, we prepared slope-type thin-film thermoelectric generators (STTEGs) using electrodeposition and transferred processes. A thin-film generator including n-type Bi2Te3 and p-type Sb2Te3 thin films was attached on slope blocks made of polydimethylsiloxane. In this study, the slope angle of STTEGs was optimized based on experimental results and computational analyses using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). With the increase in the slope angle, the ΔT began increasing and became saturated at a slope angle of 58°, and this trend was also confirmed by experimental measurements. When the heat source temperature was set at 65 °C, the ΔT computationally reached 26 K at a slope angle of 58°, and the maximum output power was 46.1 nW. Therefore, we demonstrated that the highest performance of STTEGs with an optimal slope angle can be estimated by combining the experimental results and computational analyses.

Improved Performance of Heat Source Free Water‐Floating Carbon Nanotube Thermoelectric Generators Controlling Wettability Using Atmospheric‐Pressure Plasma Jet and Waterproof Spray

“…To date, various attempts have been made to create a temperature difference in TEGs using heat sources. [8][9][10][11][12] When TEGs can generate electricity by creating a temperature difference without using heat sources, the use of TEGs is expected to expand significantly.…”