UC San Diego

Flexible thermoelectric (TE) refrigerators are attractive for personalized thermal management, for example, when integrated into clothes. Flexible TE power generators can also find applications in wearable self-powered mobile electronics. These devices, however, need high thermoelectric performance and mechanical flexibility under compressive and tensile strains, a combination of device properties that are often difficult to achieve. Despite significant efforts in the field, flexible TE devices, such as the ones made from organic materials, often exhibit lower cooling power than the actual needs. In this thesis, I studied flexible TE devices that offer high coefficient of performance.

In chapter 1, The motivation of personalized thermal management was provided. Fundamental aspects of thermoelectric devices were discussed.

In chapter 2, Technical approaches of making flexible TE devices were described. A flexible TE device was demonstrated.

In chapter 3, the coefficient of performance (COP) measurement results were presented and discussed. Specifically, COP for cooling and heating applications was measured.

In chapter 4, conclusions drawn from this study were summarized. Future work was suggested.