Milliwatt-scale 3D thermoelectric generators via additive screen printing

Abstract

Electronic components driving digitalization, such as wearables, Internet of Things (IoT), and Industry 4.0 systems, consume a growing portion of the global primary energy, largely relying on lithium-ion batteries. To enable a sustainable alternative, we explore cost-effective, fully printed thermoelectric generators (TEGs), which can be an alternative to batteries in low-power electronics. We here report a promising additive screen-printing method to fabricate two printed 3D TEGs (print-TEG I and print-TEG II) with varying thermocouple counts and a 0.36 fill factor, overcoming high contact resistance and thickness limitations. The print-TEGs were prepared via layer-by-layer printing of electrodes, interlayers, and n- and p-type legs, with six different layouts. Printed Ag2Se as n-type legs and Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 as p-type legs were used for TEG fabrication. The print-TEG II with 50 thermocouples generates a maximum power output Pmax of 1.22 mW with an open circuit voltage, VOC of 268 mV for ΔT = 43 K. The print-TEG shows a highest power density Pd of 67 μW cm−2 (>400 μW g−1) for a fully printed planar TEG. The results demonstrate the potential of print-TEGs as a steadfast power source, guaranteeing nonstop operation of low-power electronic devices.

Graphical abstract: Milliwatt-scale 3D thermoelectric generators via additive screen printing

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Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Feb 2025
Accepted
23 Jun 2025
First published
04 Jul 2025
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Advance Article

Milliwatt-scale 3D thermoelectric generators via additive screen printing

S. Antharam, M. I. Khan, L. Franke, Z. Wang, N. Luo, J. Feßler, W. Xie, U. Lemmer and M. M. Mallick, Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D5EE01151E

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