气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Enabling efficient heat-to-electricity generation at the mesoscale

CCPortal

DOI	10.1039/c7ee00366h
	Enabling efficient heat-to-electricity generation at the mesoscale
	Chan W.R.; Stelmakh V.; Ghebrebrhan M.; Soljačić M.; Joannopoulos J.D.; Čelanović I.
发表日期	2017
ISSN	17545692
起始页码	1367
结束页码	1371
卷号	10 期号:6
英文摘要	We present a technology that efficiently harnesses the energy content of hydrocarbon fuels in a volume that is only a fraction of a cubic inch. A propane-fueled microcombustor heats a photonic crystal emitter to incandescence and the resulting spectrally-confined thermal radiation drives low-bandgap PV cells to generate electricity. We overcome the technical challenges that are currently limiting thermophotovoltaics in the following ways: we develop new fabrication processes; we adopt high-temperature alloys to improve the thermo-mechanical stability; we adopt commercial polycrystalline tantalum to fabricate large-area photonic crystals; and finally, we develop a passivation coating for improved thermo-chemical stability. We demonstrate unprecedented heat-to-electricity efficiencies exceeding 4%, greater than the 2-3% efficiencies that were previously thought to be the practical limit, and we predict that over 12% efficiency is achievable with only engineering optimization. For reference, a 1.5% efficiency corresponds to the energy density of lithium ion batteries. This work opens new opportunities to free portable electronics, robots, and small drones from the constraints of bulky power sources. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2017.
英文关键词	Chemical stability; Lithium compounds; Mechanical stability; Photonic crystals; Photovoltaic cells; Polycrystalline materials; Electricity efficiencies; Electricity generation; Engineering optimization; Generate electricity; Portable electronics; Technical challenges; Thermo-chemical stability; Thermomechanical stability; Electric power generation; coating; crystal structure; electricity generation; energy efficiency; fuel cell; hydrocarbon; lithium; optimization; photovoltaic system; propane; tantalum; thermochemistry
语种	英语
来源期刊	Energy & Environmental Science
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/190470
作者单位	Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States; Department of Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States; U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center, 1 4th Ave., Natick, MA 01760, United States; Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Chan W.R.,Stelmakh V.,Ghebrebrhan M.,et al. Enabling efficient heat-to-electricity generation at the mesoscale[J],2017,10(6).
APA	Chan W.R.,Stelmakh V.,Ghebrebrhan M.,Soljačić M.,Joannopoulos J.D.,&Čelanović I..(2017).Enabling efficient heat-to-electricity generation at the mesoscale.Energy & Environmental Science,10(6).
MLA	Chan W.R.,et al."Enabling efficient heat-to-electricity generation at the mesoscale".Energy & Environmental Science 10.6(2017).