A Textile‐Integrated Polymer Thermoelectric Generator for Body Heat Harvesting

Integrating thermoelectric generators (TEGs) into textiles is attractive for body heat harvesting to power wearable electronics. Textile‐integrated TEGs have the advantage of conformity to the body that ensures efficient heat transfer and does not impede movement. Additive printing techniques and solution processable polymer‐based thermoelectric (TE) materials can be used for this purpose. However, a number of fabrication challenges limit the realization of a printed polymer‐based textile TEG using a low cost, scalable, and textile compatible process. In this work, stencil and transfer printing techniques are successfully employed to fabricate a 32‐leg device with a modest fill factor (≈30%) on a commercial sports fabric substrate. PEDOT:PSS and Poly[Na(NiETT)] are formulated into inks and used as the p‐type and the n‐type polymer materials, respectively. The textile‐integrated TE device yields an open circuit voltage of ≈3 mV at ΔT = 3 K. The fabrication process is scaled up to demonstrate an 864‐leg device that yields a voltage output of ≈47 mV. This work is the first demonstration of a textile TEG based on p‐ and n‐type conducting polymers capable of through‐plane body heat harvesting. It serves as a proof‐of‐concept for integrating TE devices into mainstream fabrics and clothing. A textile‐integrated thermoelectric device is fabricated using low cost, scalable, and textile compatible fabrication techniques. Polymer p‐ and n‐ type materials are stencil printed on a commercial sports fabric. A heat transfer membrane is heat pressed on both sides of the fabric to add metal interconnects. The 32‐leg prototype yields a voltage of ≈3 mV under body heat harvesting conditions.