Nanophotonic-Engineered Photothermal Harnessing for Waste Heat Management and Pyroelectric Generation

At present, there are various limitations to harvesting ambient waste heat which include the lack of economically viable material and innovative design features that can efficiently recover low grade heat for useful energy conversion. In this work, a thermal nanophotonic-pyroelectric (TNPh-pyro) scheme consisting of a metamaterial multilayer and pyroelectric material, which performs synergistic waste heat rejection and photothermal heat-to-electricity conversion, is presented. Unlike any other pyroelectric configuration, this conceptual design deviates from the conventional by deliberately employing back-reflecting NIR to enable waste heat reutilization/recuperation to enhance pyroelectric generation, avoiding excessive solar heat uptake and also retaining high visual transparency of the device. Passive solar reflective cooling up to 4.1 °C is demonstrated. Meanwhile, the photothermal pyroelectric performance capitalizing on the back-reflecting effect shows an open circuit voltage (Voc) and short circuit current (Isc) enhancement of 152 and 146%, respectively. In addition, the designed photoactive component (TiO2/Cu) within the metamaterial multilayer provides the TNPh-pyro system with an effective air pollutant photodegradation functionality. Finally, proof-of-concept for concurrent photothermal management and enhanced solar pyroelectric generation under a real outdoor environment is demonstrated.