Ionic thermoelectric osmotic energy conversion for harvesting low-grade waste heat from electronic heat sink

Yu Qian, Qiongyao Cui, Qin Zeng, Yongbo Dong and Qinlong Ren

Energy, 2025, vol. 338, issue C

Abstract: Efficient utilization of low-grade waste heat generated from electronic device is synergistically beneficial for its thermal management and power supply. However, the existing technologies of converting waste heat below 100 °C into electricity in electronic device remain challenging. Based on ion-selective transport in nanopores under a temperature gradient, osmotic energy conversion becomes a potential technique to realize efficient thermoelectric conversion. We present an ionic thermoelectric osmotic energy conversion device for harvesting low-grade waste heat from an electronic heat sink. When the heat flux of electronic heat sink is increased from 1000 W/m2 to 3000 W/m2, the ionic thermoelectric osmotic power density after 90 min’ operation is consolidated from 11.69 mW/m2 to 77.01 mW/m2 owing to the increased temperature difference from 18.24 °C to 43.60 °C between aqueous solutions across the ion exchange membrane. In addition, the transient ionic thermoelectric coefficient slightly oscillates around 0.5 mV/K under various heat fluxes, exhibiting a stable thermoelectric sensitivity. Furthermore, the optimum ionic thermoelectric coefficient and power density of osmotic energy conversion is achieved at an ion concentration of 0.01 M and 0.05 M, respectively. As the pH value of aqueous solution is increased from 3 to 11 under an electronic heat flux of 3000 W/m2, the output power density is enhanced from 46.91 mW/m2 to 83.01 mW/m2 with a stable ionic thermoelectric coefficient about 0.47 mV/K due to strengthened nanopore surface charge density. This work offers a promising route for efficient management of waste heat from electronic heat sink to realize thermoelectric energy conversion.

Keywords: Low-grade waste heat; Thermal management; Electronic heat sink; Ionic thermoelectric osmotic energy conversion; Intermittent work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:338:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225044676

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.138825

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