Long-Lasting Heat Dissipation of Flexible Heat Sinks for Wearable Thermoelectric Devices

Flexible wearable thermoelectric (TE) devices hold great promise for a wide range of applications in human thermal management and self-powered systems. Currently, the main challenge faced by flexible TE devices is the inadequate dissipation of heat, which hinders the maintenance of significant temperature differences over prolonged periods. Most existing heat sinks, being rigid in nature, compromise the overall flexibility of the device. Therefore, the challenge lies in maintaining device flexibility while ensuring effective heat dissipation. In this study, we developed a flexible phase-change material (FPCM) heat sink to address this issue and enhance the heat dissipation capabilities of TE devices (FPCM-TED). When used as a thermoelectric cooler (TEC), the FPCM heat sink efficiently absorbs heat from the hot end, enabling long-lasting and high-performance cooling of the TEC. This capability effectively reduces body temperature by up to 11.21 °C and can be sustained for at least 300 s. Additionally, when employed as a thermoelectric generator (TEG), the FPCM absorbs heat at the cold end, thereby increasing the temperature difference between the hot and cold ends and enhancing the output performance of the device. By integrating FPCM-TED into a fabric wristband, we successfully developed a self-powered wireless pedometer sensing system. This breakthrough lays a solid foundation for the application of wearable, smart clothing.