Research on Design and Performance Optimization of Flexible Thermoelectric Thin Film Wearable Device for Human Thermal Energy Collection

Juqing Wu

doi:10.54691/9p9kcj32

Research on Design and Performance Optimization of Flexible Thermoelectric Thin Film Wearable Device for Human Thermal Energy Collection

Juqing Wu

Frontiers in Science and Engineering, (2025), Vol.5, No.10, pp.1-10

Published: October 23, 2025

DOI: 10.54691/9p9kcj32

PDF: Download Full Text PDF

Abstract

In order to solve the problems of limited battery life and environmental pollution caused by the dependence of wearable devices on lithium-ion batteries, this study focuses on the efficient collection of human thermal energy, and proposes a flexible stretchable array design based on gradient nanostructure thermoelectric materials, which breaks through the bottleneck of the existing technology through the collaborative optimization of the whole chain of "material-structure-system". On the material level, the Bi₂Te₃/Sb₂Te₃ quantum dot superlattice thin film is constructed, and the Seebeck coefficient is increased to 258±8μV/k, the electrical conductivity is increased to 1250±60S/cm, the thermal conductivity is reduced to 0.9±0.05 W/MK, and the comprehensive thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) is 1.32, which is nearly double that of the traditional thin film. At the structural level, a 3D spiral thermoelectric unit is designed to increase the effective thermoelectric arm length by three times (about 600 μ m) compared to a planar structure, reduce interface thermal resistance by 60% (as low as 88 ± 5K · cm ²/W), and significantly optimize heat transfer efficiency. At the system level, phase change materials (PCM) are integrated to smooth out temperature fluctuations caused by human movement (<1 ℃), and combined with flexible perovskite photovoltaic units to achieve thermoelectric photovoltaic synergistic collection. The test results show that the device has a maximum power density of 15.2 μ W/cm² at a temperature difference of 5 ℃, which is 2 orders of magnitude higher than traditional flexible devices; After 10000 bending cycles (radius 5mm) and 30% stretching cycles, the resistance change rate is less than 3%, the power attenuation rate is less than 5%, and it meets the ISO 10993 biocompatibility standard (cell survival rate>90%, skin irritation index 0.2). This study provides a new technological path for self powered wearable devices that combines efficiency, flexibility, and biocompatibility.

Keywords: Performance optimization, flexible thermoelectric thin film, wearable device, human thermal energy collection, Bi₂Te₃/Sb₂Te₃ quantum dot superlattice thin films.

APA Citation: Juqing Wu (2025). Research on Design and Performance Optimization of Flexible Thermoelectric Thin Film Wearable Device for Human Thermal Energy Collection. Frontiers in Science and Engineering, 5(10), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.54691/9p9kcj32

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