A Novel Photo-Thermal-Electric Conversion System with an Integrated Support Material
Peng Kang,
Florian Ion Tiberiu Petrescu,
Yao Wu,
Ying Li,
Xin Li,
Likui Wang,
Gang Shi
Affiliations
Peng Kang
Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Florian Ion Tiberiu Petrescu
Department of Mechanisms and Robots Theory, Bucharest Polytechnic University, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Yao Wu
Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Ying Li
Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Xin Li
Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Likui Wang
Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Gang Shi
Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
In conventional photo-thermal-electric conversion systems, the photo-thermal conversion module is coupled to a thermoelectric conversion module. However, the physical contact interface between the modules causes serious energy loss. In order to solve this problem, a novel photo-thermal-electric conversion system with an integrated support material has been developed, with a photo-thermal conversion component at the top, an inside thermoelectric conversion component, and a cooling component at the bottom, surrounded by a water conduction component. The supporting materials of each part are polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and there is no apparent physical interface between each part. This integrated support material reduces the heat loss caused by the mechanically coupled interfaces in traditional components. In addition, the confined edge 2D water transport path effectively reduces the heat loss due to water convection. Under 1 sun irradiation, the water evaporation rate and open-circuit voltage of the integrated system reach 2.46 kg m−2 h−1 and 30 mV, respectively, and are nearly 1.4 times and 5.8 times higher than those of non-integrated systems.
