Zinc ion thermal charging cell for low-grade heat conversion and energy storage

Zhiwei Li, Yinghong Xu, Langyuan Wu, Yufeng An, Yao Sun, Tingting Meng, Hui Dou, Yimin Xuan () and Xiaogang Zhang ()
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Zhiwei Li: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Yinghong Xu: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Langyuan Wu: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Yufeng An: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Yao Sun: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Tingting Meng: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Hui Dou: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Yimin Xuan: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Xiaogang Zhang: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Converting low-grade heat from environment into electricity shows great sustainability for mitigating the energy crisis and adjusting energy configurations. However, thermally rechargeable devices typically suffer from poor conversion efficiency when a semiconductor is employed. Breaking the convention of thermoelectric systems, we propose and demonstrate a new zinc ion thermal charging cell to generate electricity from low-grade heat via the thermo-extraction/insertion and thermodiffusion processes of insertion-type cathode (VO2-PC) and stripping/plating behaviour of Zn anode. Based on this strategy, an impressively high thermopower of ~12.5 mV K−1 and an excellent output power of 1.2 mW can be obtained. In addition, a high heat-to-current conversion efficiency of 0.95% (7.25% of Carnot efficiency) is achieved with a temperature difference of 45 K. This work, which demonstrates extraordinary energy conversion efficiency and adequate energy storage, will pave the way towards the construction of thermoelectric setups with attractive properties for high value-added utilization of low-grade heat.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27755-x

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