SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

This Is How 3D Printing Is Revolutionizing Thermoelectric Devices

When changing tools leads to creative outcomes

3D printing of a hexagonal column cell using a novel Cu₂Se-based ink. Multiple cells form a honeycomb, an architecture that enhances thermoelectric properties. (source: Supplementary Movie 1)

To slow down global warming and reduce the use of fossil fuels, it is important to invest in renewable energy technologies. Among these, an ingenious strategy is to convert waste heat into electricity, which is possible via thermoelectric cells. These are clean, green systems whose unique properties allow them to react to temperature differences in the environment by generating a potential difference. Connect a wire between their terminals, and you get electricity.

Some important challenges in the field of thermoelectric systems are increasing their energy-conversion efficiency and enhancing their architectures such that they are durable and cheap to mass-produce. For example, the geometry of thermoelectric legs—key components of cooling/heating devices — is crucial to the systems’ power output and mechanical strength. Nevertheless, traditional synthesis methods (the most popular of which is dicing a solid bar into cuboids) do not allow much room for experimentation.

In a study published on June 10, 2021, in Nature Communications, researchers from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Republic of Korea and Arizona State…