title: High Thermal Gradient in Thermo-electrochemical Cells by Insertion of a Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride) Membrane.
abstract: Thermo-Electrochemical cells (Thermocells/TECs) transform thermal energy into electricity by means of electrochemical potential disequilibrium between electrodes induced by a temperature gradient (ΔT). Heat conduction across the terminals of the cell is one of the primary reasons for device inefficiency. Herein, we embed Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride) (PVDF) membrane in thermocells to mitigate the heat transfer effects - we refer to these membrane-thermocells as MTECs. At a ΔT of 12 K, an improvement in the open circuit voltage (Voc) of the TEC from 1.3 mV to 2.8 mV is obtained by employment of the membrane. The PVDF membrane is employed at three different locations between the electrodes i.e. x = 2 mm, 5 mm, and 8 mm where 'x' defines the distance between the cathode and PVDF membrane. We found that the membrane position at x = 5 mm achieves the closest internal ∆T (i.e. 8.8 K) to the externally applied ΔT of 10 K and corresponding power density is 254 nWcm(-2); 78% higher than the conventional TEC. Finally, a thermal resistivity model based on infrared thermography explains mass and heat transfer within the thermocells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Syed Waqar
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Suhana Mohd
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Said
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mohd Faizul Mohd
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Sabri
authors.affiliation: Low Dimensional Materials Research Centre, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ahmad Shuhaimi Abu
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Bakar
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nur Awanis
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Hashim
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Megat Muhammad Ikhsan Megat
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Hasnan
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pringle
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: MacFarlane