High-Performance Cu-Based Liquid Thermocells Enabled by Thermosensitive Crystallization and Etched Carbon Cloth Electrode

作者：Wei Fang, Zeping Ou, Yifan Wang, Zhe Li, Qian Huang, Pengchi Zhang, Xinzhe Li, Yujie Zheng, Lijun Hu, Chen Li, Jianyong Ouyang, Kuan Sun · 发表于：Nano-Micro Letters · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1007/s40820-025-01977-w · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices、Nanomaterials and Printing Technologies、Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods

Abstract Thermocells are garnering increasing attention as a promising thermoelectric technology for harvesting low-grade heat. However, their performance is often limited by the scarcity of high-performance redox couples that possess both high thermopower and rapid redox kinetics. This work addresses this challenge by leveraging our recently developed copper (I/II) (Cu + /Cu 2+ ) redox couple. We significantly enhance the performance of Cu-based liquid thermocells by integrating a thermosensitive crystallization process with etched carbon cloth electrodes, achieving synergistic improvements in thermodynamic and kinetic performance. The thermosensitive crystallization process establishes a persistent Cu 2+ concentration gradient, boosting the thermopower from 1.47 to 2.93 mV K −1 . Moreover, the etched carbon cloth electrodes provide a larger electroactive surface area and demonstrate a higher current density. Consequently, the optimized Cu + /Cu 2+ system achieved an exceptional normalized power density P max ( ΔT ) −2 of 3.97 mW m ‒2 K −2 . A thermocell module comprised of 20 cells directly power various electronic devices at a temperature difference of 40 K. This work successfully exhibits potential of Cu + /Cu 2+ redox couple in thermoelectric conversion and introduces a valuable redox couple for high-performance thermocells.