Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HORATES (Hybrid and Organic Thermoelectric Systems)
Reporting period: 2021-03-01 to 2023-02-28
Summary of the context
Waste heat is a ubiquitous source of low-quality energy that is yet to be harvested and transformed into high-quality energy in the form of electricity. Low-cost and highly scalable thermoelectric generators (TEG) based on organic materials and hybrid composites have the huge potential to achieve this. The actual market volume for ultra-low power TEG will soon pass 100M USD, and a small improvement in TEG performance or cost may open a billion-dollar market, especially in view of the booming number of autonomous, self-powered devices related to the Internet of Things (IoT). Triggered by actual market demand for printable TEG, HORATES trains 15 promising early stage researchers (ESRs) in the emerging interdisciplinary field of organic thermoelectrics. ESRs are trained within a focused consortium including universities, research centers and companies that jointly cover the full chain from molecular design and synthesis via in-depth characterization and predictive multiscale modeling to large-area printed devices. From previous and preliminary results by the consortium members, the most promising concepts have been selected for further development. These include, but are not limited to, processing-induced anisotropy and (stable) dopant-free conductors by ground-state charge transfer, and are complemented by a range of new ideas to reach application-relevant power-densities. HORATES integrates these scientific and technological aspects in a complete training package with complementary, transferable skills in order to equip young researchers with a unique toolset that is of relevance in both academia and industry, far beyond the specific topic of this project.
Overall objectives of the project
The ongoing development of the IoT leads to completely new opportunities for thermoelectric generators based on organic materials (OTEG), in which the eminent and unique strengths of organic (semi)conductors are exploited while their relative weaknesses are of minor or no importance. These IoT applications include a wide range of society-relevant applications, such as (a) body-heat powered pressure sensors for stadium chairs; (b) active temperature sensors for battery health monitoring in off-grid applications; (c) autonomous sensors for temperature and humidity monitoring of soil; (d) temperature-based flow measurement, e.g. in breathing masks; (e) IoT systems for wearable applications. Such OTEGs would require power levels in the 10 µW range, while they need to be producible in large-scales, with low production costs, in different form factors, non-toxic and with a low price per unit. While all these specific requirements are difficult to fulfil with inorganic-based TEGs, (hybrid) organic materials offer the appropriate prerequisites here.
The mission of the HORATES network is to use the large expertise on all aspects of hybrid and organic thermoelectrics that is available in the European Union for (a) the strategic training of excellent young researchers in an emerging, interdisciplinary field and (b) the rational development of prototype energy harvesters, inspired by actual market demand. To accomplish this mission the following 5 objectives should be reached within the network activities:
1) Synthesis of new, thermally and electrochemically stable organic materials and composites with record values significantly beyond the state-of-the-art.
2) Development of a general and basic understanding of the structure-morphology-property nexus.
3) Development of quantitative and predictive multiscale models for all quantities in .
4) Design and fabrication of stable printed OTEG modules with a power density p > 1 µW/cm2 at small temperature differences of 10°C.
5) Inclusive library of hybrid/organic printable TE materials as reference for future R&D activities.
Waste heat is a ubiquitous source of low-quality energy that is yet to be harvested and transformed into high-quality energy in the form of electricity. Low-cost and highly scalable thermoelectric generators (TEG) based on organic materials and hybrid composites have the huge potential to achieve this. The actual market volume for ultra-low power TEG will soon pass 100M USD, and a small improvement in TEG performance or cost may open a billion-dollar market, especially in view of the booming number of autonomous, self-powered devices related to the Internet of Things (IoT). Triggered by actual market demand for printable TEG, HORATES trains 15 promising early stage researchers (ESRs) in the emerging interdisciplinary field of organic thermoelectrics. ESRs are trained within a focused consortium including universities, research centers and companies that jointly cover the full chain from molecular design and synthesis via in-depth characterization and predictive multiscale modeling to large-area printed devices. From previous and preliminary results by the consortium members, the most promising concepts have been selected for further development. These include, but are not limited to, processing-induced anisotropy and (stable) dopant-free conductors by ground-state charge transfer, and are complemented by a range of new ideas to reach application-relevant power-densities. HORATES integrates these scientific and technological aspects in a complete training package with complementary, transferable skills in order to equip young researchers with a unique toolset that is of relevance in both academia and industry, far beyond the specific topic of this project.
Overall objectives of the project
The ongoing development of the IoT leads to completely new opportunities for thermoelectric generators based on organic materials (OTEG), in which the eminent and unique strengths of organic (semi)conductors are exploited while their relative weaknesses are of minor or no importance. These IoT applications include a wide range of society-relevant applications, such as (a) body-heat powered pressure sensors for stadium chairs; (b) active temperature sensors for battery health monitoring in off-grid applications; (c) autonomous sensors for temperature and humidity monitoring of soil; (d) temperature-based flow measurement, e.g. in breathing masks; (e) IoT systems for wearable applications. Such OTEGs would require power levels in the 10 µW range, while they need to be producible in large-scales, with low production costs, in different form factors, non-toxic and with a low price per unit. While all these specific requirements are difficult to fulfil with inorganic-based TEGs, (hybrid) organic materials offer the appropriate prerequisites here.
The mission of the HORATES network is to use the large expertise on all aspects of hybrid and organic thermoelectrics that is available in the European Union for (a) the strategic training of excellent young researchers in an emerging, interdisciplinary field and (b) the rational development of prototype energy harvesters, inspired by actual market demand. To accomplish this mission the following 5 objectives should be reached within the network activities:
1) Synthesis of new, thermally and electrochemically stable organic materials and composites with record values significantly beyond the state-of-the-art.
2) Development of a general and basic understanding of the structure-morphology-property nexus.
3) Development of quantitative and predictive multiscale models for all quantities in .
4) Design and fabrication of stable printed OTEG modules with a power density p > 1 µW/cm2 at small temperature differences of 10°C.
5) Inclusive library of hybrid/organic printable TE materials as reference for future R&D activities.
The HORATES consortium has already realized significant progress during the first reporting period including:
- Medium scale synthesis of p- and n-type polymers with top zT values reaching zT > 0.1 (p-), zT > 0.01 (n-type) confirmed in parallel by two beneficiaries.
- Development of protocols for ambient stability and solution aggregation of doped conjugated polymers as a base for ink formulation.
- Development of protocols for standardized protocols on how to perform and report degradation studies of materials and devices in a controlled and reproducible way.
- Development of methods to align polymers and determine the anisotropic TE properties
- Development of phenomenological design rules for organic TE materials based on kinetic Monte Carlo simulations
- Development and validation of predictive multiphysics models for device design
- Development of suitable inks and scalable deposition processes and production of proof-of-concept TEGs therefrom.
- Started an Open-access library of organic/hybrid TE materials.
Overall, the HORATES consortium is well on track to meet the ambitious objectives set at the beginning of the project.
- Medium scale synthesis of p- and n-type polymers with top zT values reaching zT > 0.1 (p-), zT > 0.01 (n-type) confirmed in parallel by two beneficiaries.
- Development of protocols for ambient stability and solution aggregation of doped conjugated polymers as a base for ink formulation.
- Development of protocols for standardized protocols on how to perform and report degradation studies of materials and devices in a controlled and reproducible way.
- Development of methods to align polymers and determine the anisotropic TE properties
- Development of phenomenological design rules for organic TE materials based on kinetic Monte Carlo simulations
- Development and validation of predictive multiphysics models for device design
- Development of suitable inks and scalable deposition processes and production of proof-of-concept TEGs therefrom.
- Started an Open-access library of organic/hybrid TE materials.
Overall, the HORATES consortium is well on track to meet the ambitious objectives set at the beginning of the project.
Until the end of the project we expect to have printable organic/hybrid TE materials and inks with zT > 0.5 (p-), zT > 0.1 (n-type) which can be produced on the multigram scale. Based on these record materials, a working medium-size printed demonstrator TEG will be fabricated. The results obtained within the project can help a more targeted development of efficient organic and hybrid thermoelectric materials and devices, tailored to industrial requirements. With this, HORATES will contribute to the Europeans Commissions priority to transform the Union into a resource-efficient and competitive economy.