Issue 36, 2024

Significantly enhanced properties of micro-ionic thermocells through the microstructure interfacial effect

Abstract

Liquid-state ionic thermocells (LITCs) can effectively convert low-grade waste heat to electricity. However, the larger structural dimensions and lower power density of LITCs restrict their large-scale practical application in scenarios with limited operating space such as photovoltaics, automotive applications, data centers, etc. In the present work, we demonstrate a micro-ionic thermocell (MiTC) with micrometer-scale structural dimensions prepared by soft lithography, which can synergistically promote the entropy change of the solvation structure and mass transfer of redox ions, and thus ionic thermoelectric properties. The effects of electrolyte concentration, scale effect and interface charge of the microstructure, and electrode gap on the ionic thermopower and PmaxT2 of MiTCs were comprehensively investigated to reveal the enhancement mechanisms using UV-vis/FTIR/in situ Raman analyses. The interfacial effect of microstructure-electrolyte solution can boost ionic reactions and transport processes at the microscale. It can increase the ionic thermopower and conductivity of 0.4 mol L−1 Fe(CN)64−/Fe(CN)63− electrolytes in MiTCs from −1.4 mV K−1 and 147.6 mS cm−1 to −2.5 mV K−1 and 254.2 mS cm−1, thus reaching a high PmaxT2 value of 15.4 mW m−2 K−2 at a 2 mm electrode gap and 50 μm microstructure width, respectively, showing a significant enhancement. Combined with microfabrication technology, MiTCs can facilely achieve large-scale integrated stacking and output considerable electricity within limited structural dimensions to meet the practical requirements for the integration and miniaturization of low-grade heat harvesting.

Graphical abstract: Significantly enhanced properties of micro-ionic thermocells through the microstructure interfacial effect

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Jun 2024
Accepted
05 Aug 2024
First published
06 Aug 2024

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2024,12, 24488-24498

Significantly enhanced properties of micro-ionic thermocells through the microstructure interfacial effect

H. Chen, S. Zhao, H. Zou, M. Qu, F. Zhong, X. Wei, Y. Song and Z. Liu, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2024, 12, 24488 DOI: 10.1039/D4TA03996C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements