Wood Anisotropic Compression-Induced Power Enhancement Aerogel Thermoelectric Generator Based on BC/PEDOT:PSS/SWCNT

Abstract Aerogel is a solid material with a large specific surface area and ultra-high porosity, which is considered a promising candidate for thermoelectric (TE) devices due to its unique ultra-low thermal conductivity. Generally, aerogels prepared from common organic polymers usually have low mechanical strength. Bacterial cellulose (BC), a particular nanomaterial with good mechanical properties, can act as a significant component for preparing high-performance nanomaterials. This study prepared aerogel thermoelectric generator (TEG) based on BC, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). The aerogel exhibits excellent mechanical properties with stresses of up to 241 KPa at 90% compressive deformation, and the output performance can be easily tuned by temperature difference and compressive strain. Additionally, the TE device consisting of a single aerogel achieves an optimal output power of 84 nW at 30% strain and 50 K temperature difference. This work takes into account both the high mechanical properties and TE performance of cellulose aerogels and elucidates the strengthening effect of the layered ordered inner structure of lignoid on TEG. TE aerogels exhibit excellent heat harvesting capability under both vertical temperature difference and mechanical deformation, which provides good insight for future design and application of multifunctional self-powered sensors.