The innovative minds at Kyushu University in Japan have proposed an organic thermoelectric device with a new power generation mechanism, generating energy at room temperature.
Unlike traditional thermoelectric generators that rely on temperature gradient to convert the heat into electrical energy, this device extracts small-scale thermal energy, even at no temperature gradients
This new device works on the principle of Charge Separation. The charge separation here is achieved from the charge-bound state of charge transfer excitons using low thermal energy.
Charge transfer excitons are bound states of electrons and holes, and in this device, they are excited by room-temperature heat. Even low thermal energy is sufficient to separate electrons and holes.
The foremost reason to not use inorganic compounds is their toxicity. Inorganic compounds use rare earth metals, which adds to environmental concerns.
This device uses organic compounds like Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and F16CuPc
With the ability of the proposed device to generate energy from low thermal energy, it could revolutionize electric devices like wearables