PDMS Template Generator for Wearable Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting Applications

摘要

Thermoelectric pastes based on Sb, Bi, Te powders were prepared, characterized and used to fabricate a flexible thermoelectric generator (TEG) for wearable harvesting applications. By Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations, the TEG design was finalized to optimize electrical model and match typical thermal resistances of human body skin, in order to maximize its thermoelectric performance. The thermopile is composed by 450 couples of p-Sb_2Te_3 and n-Bi_2Te_3 deposited by blade coating into vertical parallel cavities of a patterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) through-holes layer. Each leg has diameter of 1.5 mm and height of 2.5 mm. The p-n couples were electrically connected by printed silver contact. By preliminary functional tests, a Seebeck coefficient of about 75 μV/K for p-n couple on best conditions was measured.