All-polymer wearable thermoelectrochemical cells harvesting body heat
Publication Name
iScience
Abstract
Wearable thermoelectrochemical cells have attracted increasing interest due to their ability to turn human body heat into electricity. Here, we have fabricated a flexible, cost-effective, and 3D porous all-polymer electrode on an electrical conductive polymer substrate via a simple 3D printing method. Owing to the high degree of electrolyte penetration into the 3D porous electrode materials for redox reactions, the all-polymer based porous 3D electrodes deliver an increased power output of more than twice that of the film electrodes under the same mass loading using either n-type or p-type gel electrolytes. To realize the practical application of our thermocell, we fabricated 18 pairs of n-p devices through a series connection of single devices. The strap shaped thermocell arrangement was able to charge up a commercial supercapacitor to 0.27 V using the body heat of the person upon which it was being worn and in turn power a typical commercial lab timer.
Open Access Status
This publication may be available as open access
Volume
24
Issue
12
Article Number
103466
Funding Number
CE 140100012
Funding Sponsor
Australian National Fabrication Facility