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Development of Transverse Organic Thermoelectric Generators for Wearable Energy Harvesting: Generating in-plane Electricity From Through-Plane Heat Flow

Objective

The rise of wearable electronics has driven the demand for innovative energy harvesting solutions that offer sustainable power without relying on bulky batteries. Organic thermoelectric generators (OTEGs), which convert temperature gradients (ΔT) from the body heat into electricity, are promising candidates due to their skin compatibility, flexibility, thinness, and biocompatibility. However, current OTEGs face challenges in being used as wearables because it is difficult to create a ΔT in response to body heat, which typically moves in a vertical direction. State-of-the art 3D OTEG designs addressing this issue often sacrifice the thinness, flexibility and durability—key strengths of traditional OTEGs for wearable applications. To overcome these challenges, we propose transverse OTEGs (t-OTEGs) that generate electricity perpendicular to the heat flow, retaining the inherent advantages of 2D thin-film OTEGs. The key of the t-OTEGs is an engineered dual-κ substrate, composed of materials with different thermal conductivities (κ), which creates a lateral ΔT from orthogonal heat flows, enabling efficient energy conversion in a 2D thin-film platform. The primary goal of this project is to develop wearable t-OTEG technologies that utilize a versatile 2D thin-film platform to harvest the heat emitted by human skin, making them practical for real-world wearable applications and effectively replacing already proposed wearable OTEGs. To achieve this, the research will focus on the development and optimization of the dual-κ substrate, the scalable design of t-OTEGs through advanced printing techniques, and their integration into wearable applications. Successfully completing this project will revolutionize OTEG technology, providing a scalable, sustainable, and flexible power solution for wearable electronics, setting new benchmarks in thermoelectric energy harvesting, and contributing to global sustainability efforts by reducing reliance on disposable batteries.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01

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Coordinator

KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 200 400,00
Address
OUDE MARKT 13
3000 LEUVEN
Belgium

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Region
Vlaams Gewest Prov. Vlaams-Brabant Arr. Leuven
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

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