Nanoengineered nanochannels for thermally ionic nanofluidic energy harvesting
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-15-2022
Abstract
This work demonstrates thermal-to-electric energy conversion based on ionic nanofluidic transport in nano channels inducted by a temperature gradient. Two types of highly periodic and high aspect ratio nanochannels have been fabricated in a silicon (Si) substrate and in an aluminium oxide (Al2O3) membrane. Silicon nano channels with diameter of 100 nm and height of 300 mu m have been produced by metal-assisted chemical etching process (MACE), while nanochannels with the dimensions of the 10 nm and 3 mu m respectively, were fabricated in a Al2O3 membrane by the anodic aluminum oxidation (AAO) process. Moreover, a novel approach of thermally nanofluidic energy harvesting was proposed and conducted. The performance of the thermally ionic nanofluidic energy harvesting system in cases with and without nanochannels has been evaluated and compared. The advantage of the presence nanochannels on energy conversion has been confirmed. The electrolyte concentration dependence on the output power has been determined. Also, the effect of nanochannel materials, including alumina and silicon materials, on the power density has been verified. The ionic Seebeck coefficient was enhanced by 7.3 times when the nanochannels were present. The silicon substrate with nanochannels demonstrated the highest performance for energy harvesting. Its power density reaches approximately 1.47 mW/m(2), which was 13.3 times larger than the case without nanochannels. This investigation may open new opportunities for the future thermoelectric generators based on ionic transport in nanochannels.
Keywords
Thermal-to-electric energy conversion, Ionic thermoelectric materials, Nanofluidic transport in nanochannels, Anodized aluminum oxide, And metal-assisted chemical etching
Divisions
sch_ecs
Funders
Cabinet Office, Government of Japan,Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP),Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT) Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) (Grant No: 20 K15147),New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)
Publication Title
Energy Conversion and Management
Volume
264
Publisher
Elsevier
Publisher Location
THE BOULEVARD, LANGFORD LANE, KIDLINGTON, OXFORD OX5 1GB, ENGLAND