Review on Thermoelectric Generators (TEG) and their applications: Progress, Challenges, and future prospects

Abstract

Our community is currently dealing with issues such as rising electricity costs, pollution, and global warming. Scientists are working to improve energy harvesting-based power generators in order to reduce their impacts. The Seebeck effect has been used to illustrate the capacity of thermoelectric generators (TEGs) to directly convert thermal energy to electrical energy. They are also ecologically beneficial since they do not include chemical products, function quietly because they lack mechanical structures and/or moving components, and may be built using different fabrication technologies such as 3D printing, silicon technology, and screen printing etc. TEGs are also position-independent, have a long operational lifetime, and can be integrated into bulk and flexible devices. This review gives further in investigation of TEGs, beginning with a full discussion of their operating principle, kinds, materials utilized, figure of merit, and improvement approaches, which include various thermoelectric material arrangements and utilised technologies. This paper also discusses the use of TEGs in a variety of disciplines such as automobile and biomedical.

Smart Detecting and Versatile Wearable Electrical Sensing Mediums for Healthcare

“…TEGs also play a beneficial role in wearable healthcare and monitoring, based on the point that they are non-inclusive of chemical products or any mechanical or movable structures during their fabrication or functioning [ 87 ]. Additionally, their fabrication falls under different fabrication techniques such as 3D printing, silicon technology, and other technologies [ 88 , 89 ].…”

Largely Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance of Flexible Ag2Se Film by Cationic Doping and Dual-Phase Engineering

“…To achieve a high ZT value, it is crucial to maximize the S to obtain the voltage as high as possible, minimize internal loss due to the Joule effect by increasing σ, and minimize κ to maintain a significant temperature gradient. 8 Compared with traditional thermoelectric materials, flexible thermoelectric materials (including flexible thermoelectric films and fibers) can be prepared at lower temperatures and can effectively contact heat sources of various shapes to maximize the collection of heat, thus having a wider range of applications. 9 Based on this, flexible thermoelectric devices can be attached to the human skin and directly use the temperature difference between the body and the environment to generate electricity, while also preventing or minimizing heat loss during energy transfer.…”

“…The formula is ZT = S 2 σT/ κ. To achieve a high ZT value, it is crucial to maximize the S to obtain the voltage as high as possible, minimize internal loss due to the Joule effect by increasing σ, and minimize κ to maintain a significant temperature gradient …”