TY - JOUR
T1 - The significance of supporting electrolyte on poly (vinyl alcohol)–iron(II)/iron(III) solid-state electrolytes for wearable thermo-electrochemical cells
AU - Zhou, Yuetong
AU - Liu, Yuqing
AU - Buckingham, Mark A.
AU - Zhang, Shuai
AU - Aldous, Leigh
AU - Beirne, Stephen
AU - Wallace, Gordon
AU - Chen, Jun
N1 - Funding Information:
Authors gratefully acknowledge the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence Scheme (Nos. DP170102320 and CE 140100012 ), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC: U20A20338 ), the University of Wollongong (UOW) and the Australian National Fabrication Facility . EPSRC (Standard Research Studentship (DTP), EP/N509498/1) and NSFC (No.52002050) was acknowledged by M.A.B and Y.L, respectively.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - Thermo-electrochemical cells (known as thermocells) can convert heat energy into electrical power through redox reactions driven by the presence of a temperature gradient. Low-grade heat from the human body can be harvested using thermocells containing a suitable electrolyte, such as the iron(II)/iron(III) chloride redox couple housed in poly (vinyl alcohol) described here. However, conventionally the thermo-electrochemical performance of gelled electrolytes is poor, due to slow ionic transport and high charge transfer resistance. In this report, hydrochloric acid has been found to synergistically decrease the charge transfer resistance of the redox reaction, whilst doubling the tensile properties of the gel housing. Moreover, individual thermocells can be connected in parallel to enhance current output.
AB - Thermo-electrochemical cells (known as thermocells) can convert heat energy into electrical power through redox reactions driven by the presence of a temperature gradient. Low-grade heat from the human body can be harvested using thermocells containing a suitable electrolyte, such as the iron(II)/iron(III) chloride redox couple housed in poly (vinyl alcohol) described here. However, conventionally the thermo-electrochemical performance of gelled electrolytes is poor, due to slow ionic transport and high charge transfer resistance. In this report, hydrochloric acid has been found to synergistically decrease the charge transfer resistance of the redox reaction, whilst doubling the tensile properties of the gel housing. Moreover, individual thermocells can be connected in parallel to enhance current output.
KW - Low-grade thermal energy
KW - Solid-state electrolyte
KW - Supporting electrolyte
KW - Thermo-electrochemistry
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100042884&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.elecom.2021.106938
DO - 10.1016/j.elecom.2021.106938
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85100042884
SN - 1388-2481
VL - 124
JO - ELECTROCHEMISTRY COMMUNICATIONS
JF - ELECTROCHEMISTRY COMMUNICATIONS
M1 - 106938
ER -
