Highly Stretchable Carbon Nanotubes/Polymer Thermoelectric Fibers

Abstract

Thermoelectric (TE) technology provides a new way to directly harvest and convert the heat continuously released from the human body. The greatest challenge for TE materials applied in wearable TE generators is compatible with the constantly changing morphology of the human body while offering a continuous and stable power output. Here, a stretchable carboxylic single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT)-based TE fiber is prepared by an improved wet-spinning method. The stable Seebeck coefficient of the annealed carboxylic SWNT-based TE fiber is 44 μV/K even under the tensile strain of ∼30%. Experimental results show that the fiber can continue to generate constant TE potential when it is changed to various shapes. The new stretchable TE fiber has a larger Seebeck coefficient and more stretchability than existing TE fibers based on the Seebeck effect, opening a path to using the technology for a variety of practical applications.