Passive Radiative Cooling Enables Improved Performance in Wearable Thermoelectric Generators

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Energy Harvesting
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Wearable thermoelectric generators (TEGs) offer a promising power source for wearable electronics.
• Performance of TEGs is constrained by limited temperature differences, necessitating methods for improvement.
• Enhancing thermal radiation from the cold side can boost TEG performance without consuming extra energy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To simulate the effect of thermal radiation on TEG performance in diverse environments.
• To experimentally validate the performance enhancement of a wearable TEG using a radiative cooling coating.
• To investigate the indoor performance of a wearable TEG with radiative cooling.

Main Methods:

• Computational simulation of thermal radiation impact on TEGs.
• Experimental verification of a wearable TEG integrated with a radiative cooling coating.
• Measurement of output power density and voltage stability under indoor conditions.

Main Results:

• The wearable TEG with radiative cooling coating showed a ≈128% improvement in output power in exposed environments.
• A ≈96% improvement in output power was observed in non-exposed environments for the coated TEG.
• The coated TEG achieved an output power density of ≈5.5 μW cm⁻² indoors, doubling the performance of the pristine device.

Conclusions:

• Passive radiative cooling is an effective strategy to enhance the performance of wearable thermoelectric generators.
• The integration of radiative cooling coatings offers a significant advancement for TEG applications in wearable electronics.
• This approach provides a new pathway for improving energy harvesting efficiency in self-powered wearable systems.