Ultra-sensitive thermal sensor based on thermoelectric material that is transparent and printable

According to foreign media reports, scientists at the Organic Electronics Laboratory have recently developed a sensitive, transparent and printable ultra-sensitive thermal sensor. According to reports, this ultra-sensitive thermal sensor is designed based on thermoelectric materials. When there is a temperature difference between the two sides, the electrons in the thermoelectric material move from the cold side to the warm side to generate a voltage difference. It should be noted, however, that in this current project, researchers have developed a thermoelectric material that uses ions rather than electrons as charge carrier thermoelectric materials, making the effect 100 times larger than electrons.

Specifically, compared to 10mV/K using new ion materials, the use of electronic thermoelectric materials can produce 100¦ÌV / K (microvolts per Kelvin), so the signal is 100 times stronger, in other words, a small temperature difference Can produce a strong signal.

Dan Zhao, a researcher at Linkping University, found one of the three main authors of the article, an electrolyte composed of several ionic polymer gels. Some of the components are p-type polymers in which positively charged ions carry current, and these polymers are well known in the prior art. However, she also discovered a highly conductive n-type polymer gel in which negatively charged ions carry current. To date, few such materials are available.

With the help of printed electronics electrolytes, researchers have now developed the world's first printed thermoelectric module using ions as charge carriers. The module consists of connected n and p legs, where the number of leg connections determines the strength of the signal. Scientists have used screen printing to create a highly sensitive thermal sensor based on different complementary polymers. Thermal sensors have the ability to convert small temperature differences into strong signals: modules with 36 connected branches provide 0.333V at a temperature difference of 1K.