Nanoparticle-loaded highly flexible fibrous structures exhibiting desirable thermoelectric properties

Thermoelectric, the science of transforming heat to electrical energy or vice versa, provides the possibility to reserve heat losses as an electrical energy, which is called green energy. In recent years, producing a wearing thermoelectric generator that capable using human body temperature receives a great interest. In this research, a nanocomposite of Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles were used in order to produce electrical current from heat losses. The nanocomposite structures were prepared using two methods of electrospinning and coating the fabrics with a homogenous solution of PVP, CNTs and CuO nanoparticles. SEM, XRD, TEM and FTIR analysis were used to study the structural and morphological characteristics of the nanocomposite. The results showed that the fabric coated with a mixture of 20:20 (wt%) CNT and CuO nano-particles had a Seebeck coefficient of 39.21 mu V/K and the electrical conductivity of 3.5 x 10(-2) S/cm which were the best thermoelectric properties. Moreover, the results indicated that nanofibers fabricated via electrospinning which consisted of 20:20 (CuO: CNT) nanoparticles had the Seebeck coefficient up to 29.13 VAC and the electrical conductivity of 2.114 x 10(-4) S/cm.