Polyimide/PDMS flexible thermoelectric generator for ambient assisted living applications

Present work proposed design, finite element tools simulation and prototype fabrication of a low cost energy autonomous, maintenance free, flexible and wearable micro thermoelectric generator (mu TEG), finalized to power very low consumption electronics Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) applications. The prototype, integrating an array of 100 thin films thermocouples of Sb2Te3 and Bi2Te3, generates, at 40 degrees C, an open circuit output voltage of 430 mV and an electrical output power up to 32 nW with matched load. In real operation conditions of prototype, which are believed to be very close to a thermal gradient of 15 degrees C, the device generates an open circuit output voltage of about 160 mV, with an electrical output power up to 4.18 nW. In this work we proposed design, thermal simulation and fabrication of a preliminary flexible and wearable micro thermoelectric generator (mu TEG), finalized to power very low consumption electronics for Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) applications. Presented simulations show the performances of different fabrication solution for the PDMS/Kapton packages, considering flat and sloped walls approach for thermal gradient enhancement.