Novel Carbon Materials for Thermal Energy Harvesting

An increase in population and demand for a more energy intensive standard of living has strained the global energy supply. To decrease the consumption of limited fossil fuels, research has been done on utilizing low grade heat (below 130oC) sourced from industrial waste streams. One device that shows promise as a thermoenergy conversion system is a thermogalvanic cell. It is an electrochemical system that consists of two identical electrodes held at different temperatures that are placed in contact with a
redox-based electrolyte (1, 2). The temperature dependence of the direction of redox reactions allows power to be extracted from the cell (3). Electrons donated at the anode during oxidation travel through an external circuit and return via the cathode where they are consumed during reduction (4). Balance of
the redox species coupled with diffusion and convection allow the cell to operate in a self-regenerative way for maintenance free operation. However, commercialization of thermogalvanic devices is not feasible due to the low power conversion efficiencies and high cost of using platinum electrodes (5). This study aims to increase the power conversion efficiency and reduce the cost of thermogalvanic cells by utilizing a carbon based electromaterial, reduced graphene oxide (RGO), as electrodes immersed in
an aqueous based K3Fe(CN)6/K4Fe(CN)6 electrolyte.

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