An Experimental Analysis of Silk Cocoon Layer-PANI Polymer Composite as Electrode for Thermoelectric Generator Application

In this study, a silk cocoon layer (SCL) was surface coated with polyaniline (PANI), which serves as an electrode for thermoelectric generator (TEG) application. Here, the PANI was synthesized using the sol-gel method and coated on both sides of SCL using doctor-blade method. The efficiency of converting thermal energy into electrical energy was analyzed with a temperature range from 30 to 60 ºC. The TG-DTA analysis was performed to evaluate thermal stability. An evident change in the resistance was noticed for both cold (~5 °C) and heat (60 ºC) respective temperatures. Thus, this study provides a new biomaterial-based TEG electrode for waste heat recovery system/thermal management.