A Quasisolid Electrolyte Thermogalvanic Cell by Using Sand Grains

Abstract

Abstract Thermogalvanic cells (TGCs) can convert low‐grade heat into electric energy. Currently, Carnot efficiency of the P‐type TGC can reach higher than 11%, but the TGC's commercialization is still limited due to the low Carnot efficiency of the N‐type TGC. In this paper, new TGCs are reported, and they are made of desert sand grains mixed with the Cu(NO₃)₂ aqueous electrolyte, named as QS‐Cu‐TGCs, the thermoelectric performance of which is investigated. It is found that although sand grains are common, widely seen in the desert, the Carnot efficiency of such N‐type QS‐Cu‐TGCs is quite high, about 4%, with the Seebeck coefficient of 8.4 mV K−1, driven by the temperature difference 12.1 K between two electrodes, in an environment below 373 K.

Keywords

• Carnot efficiency
• Cu(NO₃)₂ aqueous electrolyte
• sand grains
• Seebeck coefficient
• thermogalvanic cells