Long-term health monitoring could lower the mortality rate caused by diseases. Body temperature is a stable energy source for biological or biophysical data collection, and thermoelectricity is possible to realize this energy conversion. 3D printing facilitated manufacturing endows the thermoelectric generator (TEG) with flexibility, thus enabling it to harvest energy from curved surfaces, e.g., human skin. In this study, conjugated polymer (i.e., PANi) is used because of its lightweight, low toxicity, and accessibility. The power factor was maximized by introducing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) as a second phase, where the π-π stacking between polyaniline (PANi) and MWNTs improved interface quality and brought energy filtering effect. The unique structure of the assembled TEG was inspired by fill gills, which was significant for higher temperature gradient and flexibility. The TEG successfully generated voltage from curved surfaces, such as hot water containers, car roofs, and human skins. This collected low-grade heat was then utilized to power a strain sensor to detect biosignals, e.g., finger bending and respiration rate. The self-powered sensing system revealed the potential of the TEG to contribute to long-term health monitoring and intelligent wearable devices.

3D Printing-facilitated, conjugated polymer-based bio-inspired thermoelectric generator

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.