Passive Radiative Cooling Enables Improved Performance in Wearable Thermoelectric Generators

Wearable thermoelectric generators have great potential to be utilized as the power supply for wearable electronics. However, the limited temperature difference across the thermoelectric generators significantly degrades the output performance, which is anticipated to be improved by enhancing the thermal radiation at the cold side without extra energy consumption. In this paper, the impact of thermal radiation on the performance of thermoelectric generators in different environments is simulated and the enhanced performance in a wearable thermoelectric generator combined with a radiative cooling coating is experimentally verified. Compared with the pristine device, the wearable thermoelectric generator with radiative cooling coating can not only achieve an approximate to 128% improvement of output power in exposed environments, but also exhibit an approximate to 96% improvement of output power in non-exposed environments. The indoor output performance of the wearable thermoelectric generator with a radiative cooling coating due to its stable voltage output is extensively investigated, which shows an output power density of approximate to 5.5 mu W cm(-2) at the indoor temperature of 295 K, doubled that without a radiative cooling coating. This work paves a new way for further enhancing the performance of thermoelectric generators via passive radiative cooling.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the impact of thermal radiation on the performance of wearable thermoelectric generators and verifies the enhanced performance of a wearable thermoelectric generator combined with a radiative cooling coating. The results show significant improvements in output power in both exposed and non-exposed environments. Additionally, the indoor output performance of the wearable thermoelectric generator with a radiative cooling coating is extensively investigated, demonstrating a doubling of the output power density.