A large-area bionic skin for high-temperature energy harvesting applications

For the large amount of waste heat wasted in daily life and industrial production, we propose a new type of flexible thermoelectric generators (F-TEGs) which can be used as a large area bionic skin to achieve energy harvesting of thermal energy. With reference to biological structures such as pinecone, succulent, and feathers, we have designed and fabricated a biomimetic flexible TEG that can be applied in a wide temperature range which has the highest temperature energy harvesting capability currently. The laminated free structure of the bionic F-TEG dramatically increases the efficiency and density of energy harvesting. The F-TEGs (single TEG only 101.2 mg in weight), without an additional heat sink, demonstrates the highest output voltage density of 286.1 mV/cm(2) and the maximum power density is 66.5 mW/m(2) at a temperature difference of nearly 1000 degrees C. The flexible characteristics of F-TEGs make it possible to collect the diffused thermal energy by flexible attachment to the outer walls of high-temperature pipes and vessels of different diameters and shapes. This work shows a new design and application concept for flexible thermal energy collectors, which fills the gap of flexible energy harvesting in high-temperature environment.

Automated summary

We propose a new type of flexible thermoelectric generators (F-TEGs) that can serve as a large area bionic skin for harvesting thermal energy from waste heat in daily life and industrial production. By referring to biological structures like pinecones, succulents, and feathers, we have developed a biomimetic flexible TEG that demonstrates the highest temperature energy harvesting capability currently available. The laminated free structure of the bionic F-TEG significantly enhances the efficiency and density of energy harvesting. The flexible characteristics of F-TEGs allow for the collection of diffused thermal energy from various high-temperature pipes and vessels, making it a breakthrough in flexible energy harvesting in high-temperature environments.