(image: ACS Energy Letters)
SEOUL, June 21 (Korea Bizwire) — A South Korean research team has developed a high-performance, flexible thermoelectric device that can power wireless wearable devices simply using body temperature, eliminating the need for batteries.
A thermoelectric device is capable of converting heat energy into electric energy through the Seebeck effect.
Existing thermoelectric devices face limitations in practicality due to their high internal resistance, resulting in low power generation.
To overcome these shortcomings, a joint research team from Seoul National University and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology utilized a solution-based welding technique on silver-nanowire flexible electrodes, effectively reducing the internal resistance.
The research team also introduced a silver particle-based conductive intermediate layer at the junction area between the elastic electrode and thermoelement to minimize the interfacial resistance.
As a result of these two methods, the internal resistance of the newly-developed flexible thermoelectric device was reduced by a factor of six compared to existing devices.
Operating solely on body temperature, it enables Bluetooth connectivity. Moreover, it can power a wearable system, enabling the transmission of rescue requests during emergency situations.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
