Thermally-regenerative concentration cell for conversion of natural heat below 400 K into electricity

INOR 480

Roman Boulatov, boulatov@uiuc.edu1, Michal Iahav, lahav.michal@gmail.com2, and George M. Whitesides2. (1) Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, 600 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, (2) Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
A thermally regenerative solution concentration cell (TRSCC) is a potential method for converting low-temperature heat into electricity in communities without access to national electrical grids. TRSCC is an electrochemical concentration cell where supply of heat maintains a concentration gradient of a redox active solute between the anodic and cathodic compartments as this gradient is continuously converted into electrical current. Like semiconductor thermoelectrics (STEs), TRSCCs can be designed to have no moving parts and to be self-enclosed, making it particularly suitable for resource-poor settings. Based on thermodynamic analysis and the performance of two prototype TRSCC's we constructed we find that utilizing state-of-the-art distillation technologies a concentration cell based on the iodine/iodide couple and a commercial anion-exchange membrane may approach the conversion efficiency of mainstream STEs. TRSCCs can be cheaper than STEs and implemented in a variety of chemical systems facilitating customization for specific sources of heat and socioeconomic environments.
 

Electrochemistry
2:00 PM-5:00 PM, Monday, 11 September 2006 Moscone Center -- Room 307, Oral

Division of Inorganic Chemistry

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006