Highly stretchable double‐network gel electrolytes integrated with textile electrodes for wearable thermo‐electrochemical cells
Yuetong Zhou,
Ding Zhang,
Shuai Zhang,
Yuqing Liu,
Rujun Ma,
Gordon Wallace,
Jun Chen
Affiliations
Yuetong Zhou
School of Materials Science and EngineeringNational Institute for Advanced MaterialsNankai UniversityTianjin China
Ding Zhang
School of Materials Science and EngineeringNational Institute for Advanced MaterialsNankai UniversityTianjin China
Shuai Zhang
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science Australian Institute for Innovative Materials University of Wollongong North Wollongong New South Wales Australia
Yuqing Liu
State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Film and Integrated Devices University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu China
Rujun Ma
School of Materials Science and EngineeringNational Institute for Advanced MaterialsNankai UniversityTianjin China
Gordon Wallace
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science Australian Institute for Innovative Materials University of Wollongong North Wollongong New South Wales Australia
Jun Chen
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science Australian Institute for Innovative Materials University of Wollongong North Wollongong New South Wales Australia
Abstract Thermo‐electrochemical cells (TECs) provide a new potential for self‐powered devices by converting heat energy into electricity. However, challenges still remain in the fabrication of flexible and tough gel electrolytes and their compatibility with redox actives; otherwise, contact problems exist between electrolytes and electrodes during stretching or twisting. Here, a novel robust and neutral hydrogel with outstanding stretchability was developed via double‐network of crosslinked carboxymethyl chitosan and polyacrylamide, which accommodated both n‐type (Fe2+/Fe3+) and p‐type ([Fe(CN)6]3−/[Fe(CN)6]4−) redox couples and maintained stretchability (>300%) and recoverability (95% compression). Moreover, poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) textile electrodes with porous structure are integrated into gel electrolytes that avoid contact issues and effectively boost the Pmax of n‐ and p‐type thermocell by 76% and 26%, respectively. The optimized thermocell exhibits a quick current density response and is continually fully operational under deformations, which satisfies the working conditions of wearable devices. Multiple thermocells (four pairs) are effectively connected in alternating single n‐ and p‐type cells in series and outputted nearly 74.3 mV at ΔT = 10°C. The wearable device is manufactured into a soft‐pack thermocells to successfully harvest human body heat and illuminate an LED, demonstrating the potential of the actual application of the thermocell devices.
