Passive Self-Sustained Thermoelectric Devices Powering the 24 h Wireless Transmission via Radiation-Cooling and Selective Photothermal Conversion

Abstract

The rapid development of the Internet of Things has triggered a huge demand for self-sustained technology that can provide a continuous electricity supply for low-power electronics. Here, a self-sustained power supply solution is demonstrated that can produce a 24 h continuous and unipolar electricity output based on thermoelectric devices by harvesting the environmental temperature difference, which is ingeniously established utilizing radiation cooling and selective photothermal conversion. The developed prototype system can stably maintain a large temperature difference of about 1.8 K for a full day despite the real-time changes in environmental temperature and solar radiation, thereby driving continuous electricity output using the built-in thermoelectric device. Specifically, the large output voltage of >102 mV and the power density of >4.4 mW m−2 could be achieved for a full day, which are outstanding among the 24 h self-sustained thermoelectric devices and far higher than the start-up values of the wireless temperature sensor and also the light-emitting diode, enabling the 24 h remote data transmission and lighting, respectively. This work highlights the application prospects of self-sustained thermoelectric devices for low-power electronics.