Harvesting energy from low-grade heat based on nanofluids

Baoxing XU; Ling LIU; Hyuck LIM; Yu QIAO; Xi CHEN

doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2012.07.013

Harvesting energy from low-grade heat based on nanofluids

Baoxing XU, Ling LIU, Hyuck LIM, Yu QIAO, Xi CHEN^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed) › peer-review

45 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Conventional thermoelectric materials have limited capability of scavenging electrical energy from low-grade heat (LGH). Based on the capacitive effect of liquid-solid interface in a nanoconfinement, we investigate a novel energy harvesting mechanism which is based on the thermally sensitive ion/charge distribution of electrolytes confined in nanopores. The mechanism is elucidated using comprehensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The effective thermal sensitivity, effective figure of merit, and thermal-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of the nanofluidic system compare favorably with respect to the conventional thermoelectric materials. The result of a preliminary thermal-to-electrical energy conversion experiment on a nanoporous carbon is presented, to qualitatively show the feasibility of the approach.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	805-811
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nano Energy
Volume	1
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2012.07.013
Publication status	Published - Nov 2012
Externally published	Yes

Funding

The work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 11172231 ), Changjiang Scholar Program from Ministry of Education of China, World Class University program through the National Research Foundation of Korea ( R32-2008-000–20042-0 ), DARPA ( W91CRB-11-C-0112 ), and National Science Foundation ( CMMI-0643726 and ECCS-1028010 ).

Keywords

Conversion efficiency
Electrical potential
Energy harvesting
Low-grade heat
Nanofluids

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.nanoen.2012.07.013

Cite this

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abstract = "Conventional thermoelectric materials have limited capability of scavenging electrical energy from low-grade heat (LGH). Based on the capacitive effect of liquid-solid interface in a nanoconfinement, we investigate a novel energy harvesting mechanism which is based on the thermally sensitive ion/charge distribution of electrolytes confined in nanopores. The mechanism is elucidated using comprehensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The effective thermal sensitivity, effective figure of merit, and thermal-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of the nanofluidic system compare favorably with respect to the conventional thermoelectric materials. The result of a preliminary thermal-to-electrical energy conversion experiment on a nanoporous carbon is presented, to qualitatively show the feasibility of the approach.",

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author = "Baoxing XU and Ling LIU and Hyuck LIM and Yu QIAO and Xi CHEN",

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doi = "10.1016/j.nanoen.2012.07.013",

language = "English",

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AU - XU, Baoxing

AU - LIU, Ling

AU - LIM, Hyuck

AU - QIAO, Yu

AU - CHEN, Xi

PY - 2012/11

Y1 - 2012/11

N2 - Conventional thermoelectric materials have limited capability of scavenging electrical energy from low-grade heat (LGH). Based on the capacitive effect of liquid-solid interface in a nanoconfinement, we investigate a novel energy harvesting mechanism which is based on the thermally sensitive ion/charge distribution of electrolytes confined in nanopores. The mechanism is elucidated using comprehensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The effective thermal sensitivity, effective figure of merit, and thermal-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of the nanofluidic system compare favorably with respect to the conventional thermoelectric materials. The result of a preliminary thermal-to-electrical energy conversion experiment on a nanoporous carbon is presented, to qualitatively show the feasibility of the approach.

AB - Conventional thermoelectric materials have limited capability of scavenging electrical energy from low-grade heat (LGH). Based on the capacitive effect of liquid-solid interface in a nanoconfinement, we investigate a novel energy harvesting mechanism which is based on the thermally sensitive ion/charge distribution of electrolytes confined in nanopores. The mechanism is elucidated using comprehensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The effective thermal sensitivity, effective figure of merit, and thermal-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of the nanofluidic system compare favorably with respect to the conventional thermoelectric materials. The result of a preliminary thermal-to-electrical energy conversion experiment on a nanoporous carbon is presented, to qualitatively show the feasibility of the approach.

KW - Conversion efficiency

KW - Electrical potential

KW - Energy harvesting

KW - Low-grade heat

KW - Nanofluids

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DO - 10.1016/j.nanoen.2012.07.013

M3 - Journal Article (refereed)

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SN - 2211-2855

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SP - 805

EP - 811

JO - Nano Energy

JF - Nano Energy

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Harvesting energy from low-grade heat based on nanofluids

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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