Integration of Dispenser-printed Ultralow Voltage Thermoelectric and Energy Storage Devices

This work reports on an integrated energy harvesting prototype consisting of dispenser-printed thermoelectric energy harvesting and electrochemical energy storage devices. The use of a commercially available DC-to-DC converter is explored to step-up the mV output voltage of the printed thermoelectric device to several volts for charging printable zinc-based micro-batteries. Two separate parallel-connected thermoelectric devices were designed and fabricated, one on flexible polyimide substrates with evaporated gold contacts and another on commercially available flexible printed circuit boards. The prototype presented in this work demonstrated the feasibility of deploying printed energy harvesting systems in practical applications.