Waste heat is a source of low-quality energy waiting to be harnessed. Low-cost thermoelectric generators (TEG) based on organic materials and hybrid composites have the potential to transform this energy into electricity. The market for ultra-low power TEG is set to exceed 100 million USD, with a potential to reach billions as the Internet of Things (IoT) grows. 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 that jointly cover the full chain from molecular design and synthesis via in-depth characterization and predictive multiscale modeling to large-area printed devices. 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 less importance. These IoT applications include a wide range of society-relevant applications which would require power levels in the 10 µW range, while they need to be producible on large-scale, 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.
HORATES mission is to use the large expertise on all aspects of hybrid and organic thermoelectrics that is available in the European Union for (a) the training of excellent young researchers in an emerging, interdisciplinary field and (b) the development of prototype energy harvesters, inspired by actual market demand. To accomplish this mission HORATES reached its objectives as planned:
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 zT.
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.
