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Charging-free electrochemical system for harvesting low-grade thermal energy.


ABSTRACT: Efficient and low-cost systems are needed to harvest the tremendous amount of energy stored in low-grade heat sources (<100 °C). Thermally regenerative electrochemical cycle (TREC) is an attractive approach which uses the temperature dependence of electrochemical cell voltage to construct a thermodynamic cycle for direct heat-to-electricity conversion. By varying temperature, an electrochemical cell is charged at a lower voltage than discharge, converting thermal energy to electricity. Most TREC systems still require external electricity for charging, which complicates system designs and limits their applications. Here, we demonstrate a charging-free TREC consisting of an inexpensive soluble Fe(CN)6(3-/4-) redox pair and solid Prussian blue particles as active materials for the two electrodes. In this system, the spontaneous directions of the full-cell reaction are opposite at low and high temperatures. Therefore, the two electrochemical processes at both low and high temperatures in a cycle are discharge. Heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 2.0% can be reached for the TREC operating between 20 and 60 °C. This charging-free TREC system may have potential application for harvesting low-grade heat from the environment, especially in remote areas.

SUBMITTER: Yang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4260536 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Charging-free electrochemical system for harvesting low-grade thermal energy.

Yang Yuan Y   Lee Seok Woo SW   Ghasemi Hadi H   Ghasemi Hadi H   Loomis James J   Li Xiaobo X   Kraemer Daniel D   Zheng Guangyuan G   Cui Yi Y   Chen Gang G  

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20141117 48


Efficient and low-cost systems are needed to harvest the tremendous amount of energy stored in low-grade heat sources (<100 °C). Thermally regenerative electrochemical cycle (TREC) is an attractive approach which uses the temperature dependence of electrochemical cell voltage to construct a thermodynamic cycle for direct heat-to-electricity conversion. By varying temperature, an electrochemical cell is charged at a lower voltage than discharge, converting thermal energy to electricity. Most TREC  ...[more]

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