abstract: Buildings continue to take up a significant portion of the global energy consumption, meaning there are significant research opportunities in reducing the energy consumption of the building sector. One widely studied area is waste heat recovery. The purpose of this research is to test a prototype thermogalvanic cell in the form factor of a UK metric brick sized at 215 mm × 102.5 mm × 65 mm for the experimental power output using a copper/copper(II) (Cu/Cu2+) based aqueous electrode. In this study the thermogalvanic brick uses a 0.7 M CuSO4 + 0.1 M H2SO4 aqueous electrolyte with copper electrodes as two of the walls. The other walls of the thermogalvanic brick are made of 5.588 mm (0.22 in) thick acrylic sheet. Internal to the brick, a 0.2 volume fraction minimal surface Schwartz diamond (Schwartz D) structure made of ABS, Polycarbonate-ABS (PCABS), and Polycarbonate-Carbon Fiber (PCCF) was tested to see the effects on the power output of the thermogalvanic brick. By changing the size of the thermogalvanic cell into that of a brick will allow this thermogalvanic cell to become the literal building blocks of green buildings. The thermogalvanic brick was tested by applying a constant power to the strip heater attached to the hot side of the brick, resulting in various ∆T values between 8◦C and 15◦C depending on the material of Schwartz D inside. From this, it was found that a single Cu/Cu2+ thermogalvanic brick containing the PCCF or PCABS Schwartz D performed equivalently well at a 163.8% or 164.9%, respectively, higher normalized power density output than the control brick containing only electrolyte solution. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2018

abstract: Waste heat energy conversion remains an inviting subject for research, given the renewed emphasis on energy efficiency and carbon emissions reduction. Solid-state thermoelectric devices have been widely investigated, but their practical application remains challenging because of cost and the inability to fabricate them in geometries that are easily compatible with heat sources. An intriguing alternative to solid-state thermoelectric devices is thermogalvanic cells, which include a generally liquid electrolyte that permits the transport of ions. Thermogalvanic cells have long been known in the electrochemistry community, but have not received much attention from the thermal transport community. This is surprising given that their performance is highly dependent on controlling both thermal and mass (ionic) transport. This research will focus on a research project, which is an interdisciplinary collaboration between mechanical engineering (i.e. thermal transport) and chemistry, and is a largely experimental effort aimed at improving fundamental understanding of thermogalvanic systems. The first part will discuss how a simple utilization of natural convection within the cell doubles the maximum power output of the cell. In the second part of the research, some of the results from the previous part will be applied in a feasibility study of incorporating thermogalvanic waste heat recovery systems into automobiles. Finally, a new approach to enhance Seebeck coefficient by tuning the configurational entropy of a mixed-ligand complex formation of copper sulfate aqueous electrolytes will be presented. Ultimately, a summary of these results as well as possible future work that can be formed from these efforts is discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Mechanical Engineering 2015

Les liquides complexes sont des matériaux très prometteurs pour réaliser la conversion bon marché et à grande échelle d’énergie thermique en énergie électrique, dans un contexte de réchauffement climatique et de maîtrise de la consommation d’énergie. Nous montrons qu’en présence d’un couple redox, les cellules thermogalvaniques à base de liquides ioniques (NEA et EMIMTFSI) présentent des propriétés remarquables tels des coefficients Seebeck de plus de 5 mV/K (Eu³⁺/Eu²⁺ dans l’EMIMTFSI). De même, ces travaux présentent l’utilisation de ferrofluides, solutions colloïdales (aqueuses ou à base de solvants organiques) de nanoparticules magnétiques (maghémite), pour accroître le coefficient Seebeck et le courant extractible de générateurs thermoélectriques liquides. Les phénomènes réversibles d’adsorption des nanoparticules sur la surface des électrodes jouent également un rôle important sur les propriétés thermoélectriques de ces solutions, et sont modifiés par l’application de champs magnétiques homogènes parallèles ou perpendiculaires au gradient de température.En l’absence d’un couple redox, les liquides ioniques peuvent être utilisés pour fabriquer des supercondensateurs à charge thermique. Ces derniers exploitent les modifications avec la température des double couches électriques aux interfaces liquide/électrode. Nous avons étudié ici ces modifications de double couches dans l’EMIMBF4 par simulations numériques de Monte-Carlo. Les résultats démontrent un accroissement conséquent des propriétés thermoélectriques lors de la dilution du liquide ionique dans un solvant organique, l’acétonitrile, en accord qualitatif avec les résultats expérimentaux. / Complex liquids are promising material for low cost and wide scale conversion of thermal energy to electric energy, within a context of global warming and control of the energy consumption.In this work we showed that with a redox couple, ionic liquid (EAN and EMIMTFSI) based thermogalvanic cells present remarkable thermoelectric properties such as the Seebeck coefficient over 5 mV/K (Eu³⁺/Eu²⁺ in EMIMTFSI). Moreover, we demonstrated for the first time that ferrofluids, colloidal solutions (aqueous or organic solvent based) of magnetic nanoparticles (maghemite), can be used to increase both the Seebeck coefficient and the electric current in liquid thermoelectric generators through unknown physical processes. The importance of reversible adsorption phenomena of the nanoparticles on the electrodes’ surface for the thermoelectric properties of these solutions was revealed. That can be further modified by a homogeneous magnetic field applied perpendicular or parallel to the temperature gradient. Without a redox couple, ionic liquids can be used to build thermally chargeable supercapacitors. They take advantage of temperature dependent electrical double-layer formation at liquid/electrode interfaces. Here, we studied these double-layer modifications in EMIMBF4/platinum through Monte-Carlo simulations. The results show substantial modifications in the thermoelectric properties when the ionic liquid is diluted in an organic solvent, acetonitrile. These results are qualitatively consistent with experimental measurements.