MORE | Fall 2019

Thermogalvanic Brick

The huge amount of waste heat and the constant demand for electric energy makes this an appreciable research topic, yet at present there is no commercially viable technology to harness the inherent energy resource provided by the temperature differential across buildings. Electricity is generated with this temperature gradient using 3D printed triply minimal surface structure; a higher surface area to volume ratio with unprecedented thermal and structural properties material, sandwiched in copper electrodes to mimic a thermogalvanic cell. The goal of this study is to estimate the thermal resistance of the 3D-printed structures for the optimum power output by introducing a membrane.