Development of integrated and flexible thermoelectric micro generators (MiTEG)

微型热电发电机（μ TEG）能够将微小的温差（例如温暖的机器外壳外部与环境之间的温差）转换为电能。这种所谓的“热电能量收集”可用于为能量自主嵌入式系统供电，例如物联网（IoT）应用或用于环境监测的传感器节点。这种自主无线系统的使用消除了大量布线或电池更换所需的维护。本项目通过两种互补的、模块化的方法来解决热电微型发电机的可用性的缺乏，以实现具有成本效益的制造：a）具有高功率因数的金属材料的电化学沉积;以及B）将纳米结构的TE材料以分散体和糊剂的形式分配/印刷到可扩展的、预结构化的基板中。这些工艺部分由烧结和热退火工艺补充，以获得高效的TE材料。遵循模块化制造工艺的理念，这些工艺也可以组合在一起，如图所示，用于接触TE材料。本项目有三个主要目标：a）研究具有高功率因数的新型或优化的热电材料及其沉积和加工方法，以生产高质量的热电腿; B）开发用于μ TEG的高效，材料灵活且具有成本效益的制造工艺; c）演示应用场景，作为与工业合作伙伴的后续转让项目的前期工作。该项目是基于申请人在热电领域的多年经验，特别是在TE材料的电化学沉积以及膏体，点胶和研磨工艺领域。此外，申请人可以使用他们所属的各个教授职位的制造和测量设施以及他们的专业知识。该项目的长期愿景是经济高效地生产可变、高效的μ TEG，以满足物联网应用对小型、免维护和通用能源的未来（潜在）高需求。

Thermoelectric microgenerators (μTEGs) are able to convert small temperature differences, e.g. between the outside of a warm machine housing and the ambient, into electrical energy. This so-called "thermoelectric energy harvesting" can be used for powering energy autonomous, embedded systems, e.g. Internet of Things (IoT) applications or sensor nodes used for environmental monitoring. The use of such autonomous wireless systems eliminates the maintenance required for extensive cabling or battery replacement. The present project addresses the lack of availability of thermoelectric micro-generators through two complementary, modular approaches towards cost-effective fabrication: a) electrochemical deposition of metallic materials with high power factors; and b) dispensing / printing nanostructured TE materials in the form of dispersions and pastes into scalable, pre-structured substrates. The processes are partly complemented by sintering and thermal annealing processes to obtain highly efficient TE materials. Following the idea of a modular manufacturing process, the processes can also be combined, which will be shown for contacting the TE materials. The present project has three main objectives: a) to investigate novel or optimized thermoelectric materials with high power factors as well as their methods of deposition and processing, to produce high quality thermoelectric legs; b) Development of efficient, materials wise flexible and cost-effective manufacturing processes for μTEGs; c) Demonstration of application scenarios, as preliminary work for subsequent transfer projects with industrial partners. The project is based on the applicants many years of experience in the field of thermoelectrics especially in the area of electrochemical deposition of TE materials as well as paste, dispensing and grinding processes. In addition, the applicants have access to the fabrication and measuring facilities of the respective professorships of which they are part, as well as their know-how. The long-term vision of the project is the cost-effective production of variable, highly efficient μTEGs to meet the future (potentially) high demand for small, maintenance-free and universal energy sources for IoT applications.