Emerging Thermoelectric Generators Based on Printed and Flexible Electronics Technology

Thermoelectrics (TE) presents great potential for harvesting electrical energy from waste heat, and for providing on-demand heating and cooling. However, the widespread of TE devices has been limited so far by their costly fabrication and restrictive form factor, limited to small and rigid devices. Owing to the recent developments on printed and flexible electronics and the advancements of TE materials, we are witnessing an increasing number of original ways to improve the applicability of TE devices. In this paper, I will review the progress of flexible and printed TE for application on non-traditional scenarios such as e-skin, textiles or curved surfaces.