Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 111, Issue 48, Pages 17011-17016Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1415097111
Keywords
waste heat harvesting; Prussian blue analog; nanomaterials; batteries
Categories
Funding
- Solid State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center - US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences [DE-SC0001299/DE-FG02-09ER46577]
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- US DOE EERE Award [DE-EE0005806]
- US DOE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering [DE-AC02-76SF00515]
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Efficient and low-cost systems are needed to harvest the tremendous amount of energy stored in low-grade heat sources (<100 degrees C). Thermally regenerative electrochemical cycle (TREC) is an attractive approach which uses the temperature dependence of electrochemical cell voltage to construct a thermodynamic cycle for direct heat-to-electricity conversion. By varying temperature, an electrochemical cell is charged at a lower voltage than discharge, converting thermal energy to electricity. Most TREC systems still require external electricity for charging, which complicates system designs and limits their applications. Here, we demonstrate a charging-free TREC consisting of an inexpensive soluble Fe(CN)(6)(3-/4-) redox pair and solid Prussian blue particles as active materials for the two electrodes. In this system, the spontaneous directions of the full-cell reaction are opposite at low and high temperatures. Therefore, the two electrochemical processes at both low and high temperatures in a cycle are discharge. Heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 2.0% can be reached for the TREC operating between 20 and 60 degrees C. This charging-free TREC system may have potential application for harvesting low-grade heat from the environment, especially in remote areas.
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