Harness High‐Temperature Thermal Energy via Elastic Thermoelectric Aerogels.pdf
Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3   e-ISSN 2150-5551       CN 31-2103/TB ARTICLE Cite as Nano-Micro Lett.           (2024) 16:151  Received: 5 December 2023  Accepted: 24 January 2024  © The Author(s) 2024 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-024-01370-z Harness High‑Temperature Thermal Energy  via Elastic Thermoelectric Aerogels Hongxiong Li1, Zhaofu Ding1, Quan Zhou1, Jun Chen2, Zhuoxin Liu1, Chunyu Du1,  Lirong Liang1 *, Guangming Chen1 * HIGHLIGHTS •	 A thermoelectric aerogel of highly elastic, flame-retardant and high-temperature-resistant PEDOT:PSS/SWCNT composite is fabricated. •	 The assembled thermoelectric generator generates a maximum output power of 400 μW at a temperature difference of 300 K. •	 The self-powered wearable sensing glove can achieve wide-range temperature detection, complex hand motion recognition and high- temperature warning. •	 The intelligent fire warning system enables highly sensitive and repeatable monitoring and alarm capabilities for high-temperature  fire sources. ABSTRACT  Despite notable progress in thermoelectric (TE) materials and devices,  developing TE aerogels with high-temperature resistance, superior TE performance  and excellent elasticity to enable self-powered high-temperature monitoring/warning in  industrial and wearable applications remains a great challenge. Herein, a highly elastic,  flame-retardant and high-temperature-resistant TE aerogel, made of poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)/single-walled carbon nanotube (PEDOT:PSS/ SWCNT) composites, has been fabricated, displaying attractive compression-induced  power factor enhancement. The as-fabricated sensors with the aerogel can achieve accu- rately pressure stimuli detection and wide temperature range monitoring. Subsequently, a  flexible TE generator is assembled, consisting of 25 aerogels connected in series, capable  of delivering a maximum output power of 400 μW when subjected to a temperature dif- ference of 300 K. This demonstrates its outstanding high-temperature heat harvesting capability and promising application prospects for real-time  temperature monitoring on industrial high-temperature pipelines. Moreover, the designed self-powered wearable sensing glove can realize precise  wide-range temperature detection, high-temperature warning and accurate recognition of human hand gestures. The aerogel-based intelligent wear- able sensing system developed for firefighters demonstrates the desired self-powered and highly sensitive high-temperature fire warning capability.  Benefitting from these desirable properties, the elastic and high-temperature-resistant aerogels present various promising applications including  self-powered high-temperature monitoring, industrial overheat warning, waste heat energy recycling and even wearable healthcare. KEYWORDS  Thermoelectrics; Aerogel; Self-powered; High-temperature monitoring; High-temperature warning  Hongxiong Li and Zhaofu Ding have contributed equally to this work.  *	 Lirong Liang, lianglirong@szu.edu.cn; Guangming Chen, chengm@szu.edu.cn 1	 College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518055, People’s Republic of China 2	 Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA 	 Nano-Micro Lett.          (2024) 16:151    151   Page 2 of 15 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-024-01370-z © The authors 1  Introduction The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) for industrial  management has spurred the demand for intelligent sensors  that could be harnessed for high-temperature monitoring/ warning to preemptively mitigate potential safety risks and  equipment failures. High-temperature environments can  pose potential safety risks and equipment failures, making  early detection and appropriate action crucial for preventing  accidents and ensuring the safety of personnel and equip- ment. However, traditional high-temperature monitoring and  warning systems face challenges such as unstable energy  supply, complex wiring requirements and maintenance dif- ficulties [1, 2]. A ray of hope emerges through the utiliza- tion of high-temperature thermoelectric (TE) materials that  possess the remarkable ability to directly convert thermal  energy into electrical energy [3, 4]. This breakthrough holds  the promise of surmounting these challenges. Moreover,  with the rapid advancement of IoT technology, integrating  high-temperature monitoring/warning systems based on  durable TE materials with IoT enables real-time data acqui- sition, data transmission, remote monitoring and warning  functions, providing a novel solution for safety management  in high-temperature environments. Given the unique structural advantages (such as three- dimensional porous network structure, light weight and  large specific surface area) and the impressive low thermal  conductivity of organic aerogels, aerogel-based TE materi- als are attracting more and more attentions [5–8]. Their TE  performance mainly depends on a dimensionless figure of  merit, ZT = S2σT/κ, where S, σ, κ, T and S2σ are the Seebeck  coefficient, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity,  absolute temperature and power factor (PF = S2σ), respec- tively [9, 10]. Various TE aerogels have been prepared  using a wide range of materials, including polymers such  as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfon ate) (PEDOT:PSS), polyaniline (PANI) [11, 12] and some  insulating polymers (cellulose or polyurethane), carbon- based materials like graphene and carbon nanotubes [8,  13, 14], as well as their composite and hybrid counterparts  [15–18]. Among them, polymer/carbon nanotube composite  TE aerogels possess high electrical conductivity, excellent  structural and mechanical properties, providing great poten- tial in mechanically deformable TE materials and devices.  For instance, a low κ of 0.055 W ­m−1 ­K−1 and highly elastic  single-walled carbon nanotube/polyurethane (SWCNT/ PU) TE sponge was obtained by a convenient dipping–dry- ing process, which led to a PF value of 3.87 nW ­m−1 ­K−2  at room temperature [19]. Moreover, their TE properties  revealed a unique pressure-driven response, generating an  enhanced PF of 11.01 nW ­m−1 ­K−2 at compression strain  of 80%. Yao et al. [12] successfully obtained elastic PANI/ graphene composite aerogels with an ultrahigh PF value of  20.3 μW ­m−1 ­K−2 (at 127 °C) by in-situ oxidative polym- erization of aniline on three-dimensional graphene. Despite  the reported advancements in various TE aerogel materials,  the development of high-temperature-resistant TE aerogels  and their performance for broader applications in the future  remain highly challenging. Leveraging the compressibility, conductivity, Seebeck  effect and exceptional heat-to-electricity conversion capa- bility of TE aerogels, they find versatile applications as  piezoresistive pressure/strain sensors, temperature sensors  or TE generators [7, 20–24]. For the realization of these  functional applications, temperature is a critical param- eter that not only affects the TE properties of the aerogel  itself but also determines its performance and practical  application as a sensor or generator. Cho et al. [19] devel- oped an elastic SWCNT/PU sponged-based TE generator  with 8 p-n couples, generating a large output power of  2.09 μW at a temperature difference (ΔT) of 55 K under  compressive strain of 80%. Based on the TE mechanism  of polydimethylsiloxane-supported PANI/CNT composite  aerogel (17.1 μV ­K−1), it can achieve temperature sensing  within a ΔT of 100 K [21]. Considering the human body  as a constant temperature heat source and the demand for  self-powered wearable electronic devices, some progress  has been made in aerogel-based self-powered wearable  temperature sensors, pressure sensors and TE generators  [23–26]. For instance, Zhang et al. [26] realized a self- powered wearable temperature–pressure dual-parameter  sensors using microstructure PU-supported PEDOT:PSS.  However, the reported usage or testing temperatures of  organic aerogel-based temperature sensors or TE gen- erators are mostly below 150 °C, and studies to further  develop excellent high-temperature-resistant TE aerogels  and explore their applications in high-temperature sce- narios are still needed to promote practical applications.  Therefore, the development of TE aerogels with a wide  temperature range application is not only capable of col- lecting human body heat or high-temperature heat energy,  Nano-Micro Lett.          (2024) 16:151 	 Page 13 of 15    151  1 3 is composed of energy collection (TE aerogels), amplifier,  ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter), buzzer and Bluetooth  module (Fig. S16). To confirm the usability of the designed  system in a fire scenario, we test this system with open  flames indoors. As shown in Video S4, when no flames are  in proximity, everything remains calm and undisturbed.  However, once a flame is detected and reaches the default  threshold, the alarm system is immediately triggered, acti- vating an alert to remind firefighters to stay away from the  fire source or evacuate safely. Simultaneously, a Bluetooth  module will transmit the information in real-time to a smart- phone or computer, allowing other firefighters to monitor the  personal safety of the current firefighter and provide timely  support. As shown in Fig. 6d, the self-powered fire warning  system, designed to intermittently expose the alcohol lamp  flame at 30 s cycle periods, consistently generates an aver- age output voltage of 2.48 mV with a small standard devia- tion of 2.2%. This indicates the reliable repeatability of the  aerogel-based fire warning system. Therefore, the developed  intelligent wearable sensing system, based on high-tempera- ture-resistant TE aerogel, exhibits the desired capabilities of  self-powering and ultrasensitive high-temperature warning,  making it well-suited for firefighters. The highly elastic and  high-temperature-resistant PEDOT:PSS/SWCNT composite  aerogels proposed in this work exhibit great potential in the  fields of strain sensor, wide-range temperature heat harvest- ing, as well as self-powered high-temperature monitoring/ warning in wearable electronics. 4  Conclusion In summary, ultralight weight, elastic, flame retardancy and  high-temperature-resistant PEDOT:PSS/SWCNT composite  TE aerogels are fabricated via a convenient solvent displace- ment, solution mixing and subsequent freeze-drying pro- cess, exhibiting a large Seebeck coefficient of 38.9 μV ­K−1  and a relatively low thermal conductivity of 0.074 W  ­m−1 ­K−1. The aerogels reveal a remarkable enhancement  in both electrical and thermal conductivities as the com- pressive strain increases, while the Seebeck coefficient can  be well maintained, leading to a greatly enhanced power  factor of 0.58 μW ­m−1 ­K−2 at the strain of 80%. Benefit- ing from the high elasticity, excellent TE performance and  high-temperature resistance of the aerogels, the fabricated  aerogel-based sensors demonstrate the capability to accu- rately detect pressure stimuli and achieve wide-range tem- perature monitoring. A flexible TE generator is subsequently  fabricated by connecting 25 aerogels in series, generating a  maximum output power of 400 μW at a high-temperature  difference of 300 K. Notably, the testing or application tem- peratures of our fabricated TE aerogel and its TE generator  are significantly higher than that of mostly reported aero- gels and their generators. Moreover, the reported ultralight  high-temperature-resistant TE aerogel can also serve as a  self-powered wearable sensing glove for wide-range tem- perature detection and complex hand gestures recognition.  The designed self-powered intelligent fire warning system,  incorporated into firefighting cloths, enables highly sensitive  and repeatable monitoring and alarm capabilities for high- temperature fire sources. With all these desirable properties,  the elastic, flame retardancy and high-temperature-resistant  aerogel holds promising applications in wide-range tempera- ture heat harvesting, high-temperature monitoring/warning,  and self-powered wearable electronics. Acknowledgements  This work was financially supported by  the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation  (2022A1515110296, 2022A1515110432), the Shenzhen Science  and Technology Program (20231120171032001) and the National  Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52242305). The authors  also thank the Instrumental Analysis Center of Shenzhen Univer- sity (Lihu Campus) for their assistance of SEM observations. Declarations  Conflict of interest  The authors declare no interest conflict. They  have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships  that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.  Guangming Chen is an editorial board member for Nano-Micro Letters  and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish  this article. All authors declare that there are no competing interests. Open Access   This article is licensed under a Creative Commons  Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing,  adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format,  as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and  the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and  indicate if changes were made. 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Title: Harness High‑Temperature Thermal Energy via Elastic Thermoelectric Aerogels
Authors: Hongxiong Li1, Zhaofu Ding1, Quan Zhou1, Jun Chen2, Zhuoxin Liu1, Chunyu Du1,Lirong Liang1 *, Guangming Chen1 *
Publisher: Nano-Micro Letters ​
Date: 2024-01-24 00:00:00
Abstract: Despite notable progress in thermoelectric (TE) materials and devices, developing TE aerogels with high-temperature resistance, superior TE performance and excellent elasticity to enable self-powered high-temperature monitoring/warning in industrial and wearable applications remains a great challenge. Herein, a highly elastic, flame-retardant and high-temperature-resistant TE aerogel, made of poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)/single-walled carbon nanotube (PEDOT:PSS/ SWCNT) composites, has been fabricated, displaying attractive compression-induced power factor enhancement. The as-fabricated sensors with the aerogel can achieve accurately pressure stimuli detection and wide temperature range monitoring. Subsequently, a flexible TE generator is assembled, consisting of 25 aerogels connected in series, capable of delivering a maximum output power of 400 μW when subjected to a temperature difference of 300 K. This demonstrates its outstanding high-temperature heat harvesting capability and promising application prospects for real-time temperature monitoring on industrial high-temperature pipelines. Moreover, the designed self-powered wearable sensing glove can realize precise wide-range temperature detection, high-temperature warning and accurate recognition of human hand gestures. The aerogel-based intelligent wearable sensing system developed for firefighters demonstrates the desired self-powered and highly sensitive high-temperature fire warning capability. Benefitting from these desirable properties, the elastic and high-temperature-resistant aerogels present various promising applications including self-powered high-temperature monitoring, industrial overheat warning, waste heat energy recycling and even wearable healthcare.