3D‐Printed Wearable Electrochemical Energy Devices

Zhang, Shuai; Liu, Yuqing; Hao, Junnan; Wallace, Gordon G.; Beirne, Stephen

doi:10.1002/adfm.202103092

Cited by 49 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 171 publications

(261 reference statements)

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“…Furthermore, a three-dimensional (3D) printing technique is introduced to fabricate assembled thermocell arrays (Figure 5c and Figure S22). 50 Elastic frames with series connections are first printed via digital light processing. Quasi-solid thermocell units are sealed in the elastic frames and connected by copper electrodes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hierarchically Anisotropic Networks to Decouple Mechanical and Ionic Properties for High-Performance Quasi-Solid Thermocells

et al. 2022

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The rapid growth of wearable systems demands sustainable, mechanically adaptable, and eco-friendly energy-harvesting devices. Quasi-solid ionic thermocells have demonstrated the capability of continuously converting low-grade heat into electricity to power wearable electronics. However, a trade-off between ion conductivity and mechanical properties is one of the most challenging obstacles for developing high-performance quasi-solid thermocells. Herein, the trade-off is overcome by designing anisotropic polymer networks to produce aligned channels for ion-conducting and hierarchically assembled crystalline nanofibrils for crack blunting. The ionic conductivity of the anisotropic thermocell has a more than 400% increase, and the power density is comparable to the record of state-of-the-art quasi-solid thermocells. Moreover, compared with the existing quasi-solid thermocells with the optimal mechanical performance, this material realizes biomimetic strain-stiffening and shows more than 1100% and 300% increases in toughness and strength, respectively. We believe this work provides a general method for developing high-performance, cost-effective, and durable thermocells and also expands the applicability of thermocells in wearable systems.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hierarchically Anisotropic Networks to Decouple Mechanical and Ionic Properties for High-Performance Quasi-Solid Thermocells

et al. 2022

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“…With the rapid development of next-generation wearable electronics, such as portable devices and soft electric devices, there is strong demand for lightweight, wearable, and environmentally friendly energy devices, such as piezoelectric nanogenerators, thermoelectric generators and thermoelectrochemical cells ( Dargusch et al., 2020 ; Shi et al., 2020 ; Khan et al., 2021 ; Jia et al., 2021 ; Tian et al., 2019 ; Zhang et al., 2021 ). Human body heat is an accessible, relatively consistent, and environmentally friendly power source with a temperature difference (ΔT) between human skin and ambient environment ( Oh et al., 2016 ; Zhong et al., 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

All-polymer wearable thermoelectrochemical cells harvesting body heat

et al. 2021

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Summary Wearable thermoelectrochemical cells have attracted increasing interest due to their ability to turn human body heat into electricity. Here, we have fabricated a flexible, cost-effective, and 3D porous all-polymer electrode on an electrical conductive polymer substrate via a simple 3D printing method. Owing to the high degree of electrolyte penetration into the 3D porous electrode materials for redox reactions, the all-polymer based porous 3D electrodes deliver an increased power output of more than twice that of the film electrodes under the same mass loading using either n-type or p-type gel electrolytes. To realize the practical application of our thermocell, we fabricated 18 pairs of n-p devices through a series connection of single devices. The strap shaped thermocell arrangement was able to charge up a commercial supercapacitor to 0.27 V using the body heat of the person upon which it was being worn and in turn power a typical commercial lab timer.

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“…However, both PEDOT:PSS and rGO-PEDOT:PSS films peeled off from ITO-PET, and the rGO-PEDOT:PSS film peeled off from Kapton (Figure S2, Supporting Information), due to a mismatch between the mechanical properties of the under-lying substrate and those of the coated inks when dried. [50] Only PEDOT:PSS film on PET, PEDOT:PSS film on KT, and rGO-PEDOT:PSS film on PET (denoted as PEDOT:PSS/PET, PEDOT:PSS/KT, and rGO-PEDOT:PSS/PET, respectively) were successfully prepared and exhibited high flexibility (Figure 2a). Hence, these three kinds of fPT electrode/Sub FT combination were selected for further study.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wearable Photo‐Thermo‐Electrochemical Cells (PTECs) Harvesting Solar Energy

Liu

Zhang

Beirne

et al. 2022

Macromol. Rapid Commun.

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Solar induced thermal energy is a vital heat source supplementing body heat to realize thermo-to-electric energy supply for wearable electronics. Thermo-electrochemical cells, compared to the widely investigated thermoelectric generators, show greater potential in wearable applications due to the higher voltage output from low-grade heat and the increased option range of cheap and flexible electrode/electrolyte materials. A wearable photo-thermo-electrochemical cell (PTEC) is first fabricated here through the introduction of a polymer-based flexible photothermal film as a solar-absorber and hot electrode, followed by a systematic investigation of wearable device design. The as-prepared PTEC single device shows outstanding output voltage and current density of 15.0 mV and 10.8 A m -2 and 7.1 mV and 8.57 A m -2 , for the device employing p-type and n-type gel electrolytes, respectively. Benefiting from the equivalent performance in current density, a series connection containing 18 pairs of p-n PTEC devices is effectively made, which can harvest solar energy and charge supercapacitors to above 250 mV (1 sun solar illumination). Meanwhile, a watch-strap shaped flexible PTEC (eight p-n pairs) that can be worn on a wrist is fabricated and the realized voltage above 150 mV under light shows the potential for use in wearable applications.

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3D‐Printed Wearable Electrochemical Energy Devices

Cited by 49 publications

References 171 publications

Hierarchically Anisotropic Networks to Decouple Mechanical and Ionic Properties for High-Performance Quasi-Solid Thermocells

Hierarchically Anisotropic Networks to Decouple Mechanical and Ionic Properties for High-Performance Quasi-Solid Thermocells

All-polymer wearable thermoelectrochemical cells harvesting body heat

Wearable Photo‐Thermo‐Electrochemical Cells (PTECs) Harvesting Solar Energy

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