Waste-Heat Recovery with Complex Liquid Thermoelectrics – WH-RECOLTE

WH-RECOLTE aims to advance the liquid thermoelectric technology by addressing two recently identified physico-chemical and electrochemical phenomena for enhancing their energy conversion performance. Namely, we investigate the role of particle/liquid interface in colloidal suspensions, and develop novel redox couples with ever higher Seebeck coefficient in ionic liquids through experimental-numerical testing strategies. The end-products are robust liquid thermoelectric materials and devices to produce electricity from external heat flux, surpassing the state-of-the-art liquid modules with the added value of being cost-effective, non-toxic and modulable. Our primary application focus is on electricity production at small scales (1~100 W) for portable electronic devices. However, the project’s basic knowledge can be extended to a larger scale devices, as well as to applications outside the renewable energy research such as temperature and chemical pollutant sensors.