24 January 2024 | Hongxiong Li, Zhaofu Ding, Quan Zhou, Jun Chen, Zhuoxin Liu, Chunyu Du, Lirong Liang, Guangming Chen
This paper presents the development of highly elastic, flame-retardant, and high-temperature-resistant thermoelectric (TE) aerogels made from poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)/single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) composites. These aerogels exhibit enhanced thermoelectric properties, including a large Seebeck coefficient of 38.9 μV K−1 and a low thermal conductivity of 0.074 W m−1 K−1 at room temperature. The aerogels show significant improvements in power factor with increasing compression strain, reaching a maximum of 0.58 μW m−1 K−2 at 80% strain. The aerogels are used to fabricate a flexible TE generator consisting of 25 aerogels connected in series, which generates a maximum output power of 400 μW at a temperature difference of 300 K. Additionally, a self-powered wearable sensing glove is developed, capable of detecting wide-range temperatures and recognizing complex hand gestures. The aerogels also demonstrate excellent flame retardancy, making them suitable for use in a self-powered intelligent wearable fire warning system. This system can monitor high-temperature fire sources and trigger an alarm when a threshold temperature is reached, providing reliable and repeatable monitoring and warning capabilities. The high-temperature-resistant, elastic, and flame-retardant properties of the PEDOT:PSS/SWCNT aerogels make them promising for various applications, including high-temperature monitoring, industrial overheating warning, waste heat energy recycling, and wearable healthcare.This paper presents the development of highly elastic, flame-retardant, and high-temperature-resistant thermoelectric (TE) aerogels made from poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)/single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) composites. These aerogels exhibit enhanced thermoelectric properties, including a large Seebeck coefficient of 38.9 μV K−1 and a low thermal conductivity of 0.074 W m−1 K−1 at room temperature. The aerogels show significant improvements in power factor with increasing compression strain, reaching a maximum of 0.58 μW m−1 K−2 at 80% strain. The aerogels are used to fabricate a flexible TE generator consisting of 25 aerogels connected in series, which generates a maximum output power of 400 μW at a temperature difference of 300 K. Additionally, a self-powered wearable sensing glove is developed, capable of detecting wide-range temperatures and recognizing complex hand gestures. The aerogels also demonstrate excellent flame retardancy, making them suitable for use in a self-powered intelligent wearable fire warning system. This system can monitor high-temperature fire sources and trigger an alarm when a threshold temperature is reached, providing reliable and repeatable monitoring and warning capabilities. The high-temperature-resistant, elastic, and flame-retardant properties of the PEDOT:PSS/SWCNT aerogels make them promising for various applications, including high-temperature monitoring, industrial overheating warning, waste heat energy recycling, and wearable healthcare.