Polyphenol‐Mediated Liquid Metal Composite Architecture for Solar Thermoelectric Generation

Abstract

The development of advanced solar energy technologies, which efficiently convert solar energy to heat and then to electricity, remains a significant challenge in the pursuit of clean energy production. Here, we address this challenge by designing a photothermal absorber composed of liquid gallium particles and a natural polyphenol‐based coordination ink. The design of this composite takes advantage of the tuneable light absorption properties of the polyphenol inks and can also be applied onto flexible substrates. While the ink utilizes two types of coordination complexes to absorb light at different wavelengths, the liquid gallium particles with high thermal and electrical properties provide enhanced thermoelectric effect. As such, the photothermal composite exhibits a broad‐spectrum light absorption and highly efficient solar‐to‐heat conversion. A thermoelectric generator coated with the photothermal composite exhibits an impressive voltage output of ∼185.3 mV when exposed to 1 Sun illumination, without requiring any optical concentration, which sets a new record for a power density at 345.5 μW cm−2. This work showcases the synergistic combination of natural compound‐based light‐absorbing coordination complexes with liquid metals to achieve a strong photothermal effect and their integration into thermoelectric devices with powerful light harvesting capabilities.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

The role of semi-artificial photosynthetic systems in energy and environmental solutions: a critical review

“…To better protect the environment and alleviate the energy crisis, the search for and development of sustainable, renewable, and clean energy has garnered widespread attention from researchers (Turner, 2022;Ou et al, 2023). In this pursuit, solar energy emerges as one of the most critical renewable and clean energy sources, offering advantages such as abundance, accessibility, and ease of conversion into thermal, electricity, and biomass energy, with tremendous potential to replace traditional energy sources (Wang et al, 2023b;Flores et al, 2024).…”