2024-04-02 00:30:22
Thermoelectric materials, which previously focused mainly on converting waste heat to electricity, now facilitate catalytic processes, offering innovative solutions for energy efficiency and environmental improvements.
Essential for converting thermal energy to electrical energy and reducing waste, thermoelectric materials have expanded their usefulness beyond heat recovery to catalysis, driven by natural and industrial heat gradients.
With the rapid development of human society, the demand for energy has experienced explosive growth. However, at the present stage, the utilization efficiency of the primary energy is less than 40%, with the rest being lost in the form of waste heat, which leads to serious energy waste and aggravates environmental problems.
Thermoelectric materials, as a new energy material capable of directly converting thermal energy into electrical energy, have received increasing attention in the field of waste heat recovery. When there is a temperature difference at the two ends of thermoelectric materials, a thermo-electromotive force is created within the material, thus achieving the conversion of thermal energy into electrical energy.
Emerging applications of thermal materials
In addition to being used as electrical generators, thermoelectric materials have opened up new directions for catalysis in recent years. The small temperature gradient (<100 °C) caused by the widespread heat in nature and industrial production provides sufficient driving force for catalytic reactions.
This enables the reuse of low-grade waste heat resources to drive various catalysis processes such as hydrogen production, organic synthesis, environmental remediation and biomedical applications. It offers a new solution for improving energy utilization efficiency, energy saving, emission reduction and green catalysis.
Working modes of TECatal systems: (a) hybrid structure mode, (b) single-phase mode, (c) PN nanojunction mode, and (d) thermogalvanic cell mode. Potential applications of TECatal materials in (e) H2 production and CO2 reduction, (f) crop treatment, (g) vehicle tail gas treatment, and (h) window glass coating for indoor air purification. Credit: Science China Press
Progress and future prospects in thermoelectrocatalysis
Based on recent progress in this emerging field, the team from the Institute of Quantum and Sustainable Technology at Jiangsu University proposed the conceptual application direction of thermo-electrocatalysis (TECatal) and systematically summarized existing thermoelectric catalytic materials and working conditions. Four main working modes have been proposed, including hybrid structure mode, single-phase mode, PN nanojunction mode, and thermogalvanic cell mode.
The research examines ways to improve the performance of thermoelectric catalytic materials through optimization of thermoelectric properties, band engineering, microstructures and stability. Furthermore, the prospects of thermoelectric catalytic materials in areas such as green energy, crop treatment and environmental governance were proposed and discussed, providing important references for future development of this field.
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