Advanced Glass Fiber Polymer Composite Laminate Operating as a Thermoelectric Generator: A Structural Device for Micropower Generation and Potential Large-Scale Thermal Energy Harvesting

George Karalis; Lazaros Tzounis; Kyriaki Tsirka; Christos K Mytafides; Angelos Voudouris Itskaras; Marco Liebscher; Eleftherios Lambrou; Leonidas N Gergidis; Nektaria-Marianthi Barkoula; Alkiviadis S Paipetis

doi:10.1021/acsami.1c04527

Advanced Glass Fiber Polymer Composite Laminate Operating as a Thermoelectric Generator: A Structural Device for Micropower Generation and Potential Large-Scale Thermal Energy Harvesting

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 May 26;13(20):24138-24153. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c04527. Epub 2021 May 14.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Ioannina, GR-45110 Ioannina, Greece.
² Institute of Construction Materials, Technische Universität Dresden, DE-01062 Dresden, Germany.

PMID: 33988382
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c04527

Abstract

This study demonstrates for the first time a structural glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite laminate with efficient thermal energy harvesting properties as a thermoelectric generator (TEG). This TEG laminate was fabricated by stacking unidirectional glass fiber (GF) laminae coated with p- and n-type single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) inks via a blade coating technique. According to their thermoelectric (TE) response, the p- and n-type GF-SWCNT fabrics exhibited Seebeck coefficients of +23 and -29 μV/K with 60 and 118 μW/m·K² power factor values, respectively. The in-series p-n interconnection of the TE-enabled GF-SWCNT fabrics and their subsequent impregnation with epoxy resin effectively generated an electrical power output of 2.2 μW directly from a 16-ply GFRP TEG laminate exposed to a temperature difference (ΔT) of 100 K. Both experimental and modeling work validated the TE performance. The structural integrity of the multifunctional GFRP was tested by three-point bending coupled with online monitoring of the steady-state TE current (I_sc) at a ΔΤ of 80 K. I_sc was found to closely follow all transitions and discontinuities related to structural damage in the stress/strain curve, thus showing its potential to serve the functions of power generation and damage monitoring.

Keywords: Seebeck effect; advanced glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites; in-plane thermal gradient; large-scale thermal energy harvesting; multifunctional composites; organic thermoelectrics; structural TEG laminate; thermoelectric modeling.