ADVANCEMENTS IN WEARABLE THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS: MATERIALS, DESIGNS, AND MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY HARVESTING

Abstract

With the increasing interest of people to be informed at every step, to progress and overcome their limits, rapid developments have occurred in the field of IoT (Internet of Things) and miniaturized electronics. Thus, wearable power sources with high reliability and long duty cycles are required to power wearable electronic devices to meet people's needs and smart miniaturized electronics requirements. In addition, to make them truly wearable, these must be light, flexible, silent, low power consumption and adaptable to the human body. Textile materials can meet these requirements, and thermoelectric generators assembled from fibers, filaments, yarns, or fabrics (T-TEG) that allow the generation of thermoelectric energy (TE) from body heat represents a research topic of great interest today. Recent studies have demonstrated that T-TEGs have the potential to provide a sustainable and renewable energy source for a wide range of applications through the use of innovative materials and advanced yet simple manufacturing technologies. The choice of material is an important step in the manufacturing process, and it is essential to consider several factors such as thermoelectric efficiency, cost, processability and scalability. Thus, this paper outlines which methods, designs and materials have been chosen in recent years by researchers for the development and optimization of wearable thermoelectric generators (wTEG).