From Academia to Industry: Criteria for Upscaling Ionic Liquid-Based Thermo-Electrochemical Cells for Large-Scale Applications

Arianna Tiozzo, Andrea Bertinetti (), Alessio Tommasi (), Giovanna Nicol, Riccardo Rocca, Sawako Nakamae, Blanca E. Torres Bautista, Sabrina Campagna Zignani, Edith Laux, Sebastien Fantini and Mauro Francesco Sgroi
Additional contact information
Arianna Tiozzo: South Europe—Sustainable Raw Materials, Centro Ricerche FIAT S.C.p.A., Strada Torino 50, 10043 Orbassano, Italy
Andrea Bertinetti: Gemmate Technologies srl, Via Reano 31, 10090 Buttigliera Alta, Italy
Alessio Tommasi: Gemmate Technologies srl, Via Reano 31, 10090 Buttigliera Alta, Italy
Giovanna Nicol: South Europe—Sustainable Raw Materials, Centro Ricerche FIAT S.C.p.A., Strada Torino 50, 10043 Orbassano, Italy
Riccardo Rocca: South Europe—Sustainable Raw Materials, Centro Ricerche FIAT S.C.p.A., Strada Torino 50, 10043 Orbassano, Italy
Sawako Nakamae: Service de Physique de L’état Condensé, SPEC, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France
Blanca E. Torres Bautista: Service de Physique de L’état Condensé, SPEC, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France
Sabrina Campagna Zignani: Institute of Advanced Energy Technologies (ITAE), Italian National Research Council (CNR), Via Salita S. Lucia Sopra Contesse 5, 98126 Messina, Italy
Edith Laux: Haute Ecole Arc Ingénierie (HES-SO), Eplatures-Grise 17, 2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
Sebastien Fantini: Solvionic, 11 Chemin des Silos, 31100 Toulouse, France
Mauro Francesco Sgroi: Department of Chemistry, University of Turin, Via Pietro Giuria 7, 10125 Torino, Italy

Energies, 2023, vol. 17, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Thermo-electrochemical cells (or thermocells) represent a promising technology to convert waste heat energy into electrical energy, generating power with minimal material consumption and a limited carbon footprint. Recently, the adoption of ionic liquids has pushed both the operational temperature range and the power output of thermocells. This research discusses the design challenges and the key performance limitations that need to be addressed to deploy the thermocells in real-world applications. For this purpose, a unique up-scaled design of a thermocell is proposed, in which the materials are selected according to the techno-economic standpoint. Specifically, the electrolyte is composed of EMI-TFSI ionic liquid supplemented by [Co(ppy)] 3+/2+ redox couples characterized by a positive Seebeck coefficient (1.5 mV/K), while the electrodes consist of carbon-based materials characterized by a high surface area. Such electrodes, adopted to increase the rate of the electrode reactions, lead to a thermoelectric performance one order of magnitude greater than the Pt electrode-based counterpart. However, the practical applications of thermocells are still limited by the low power density and low voltage that can be generated.

Keywords: thermo-electricity; thermoelectric generator; thermo-electrochemical cell; ionic liquid; scale-up (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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