Nanostructured Carbon Electrodes for Increased Power Density in Flow Thermo-Electrochemical Generator Heat Sinks

Abstract

Heat is a by-product of all energy conversion mechanisms. Efforts to utilize and dissipate heat remain a challenge for further development and optimization of energy conversion devices. Stationary thermo-electrochemical cell is a low cost method to harvest heat; however, it suffers from low power density. Flow thermo-electrochemical cell (fTEC) heat sink presents itself as a unique solution as it can simultaneously scavenge and remove heat to maintain devices in the operating range. In this work, multiwalled nanotube (MWNT) electrodes have been used and electrode configuration has been changed to maximize the temperature difference over a small interelectrode separation. As a result, power per unit area of fTEC heat sink has been improved by more than seven-fold to 0.36 W/m2.