Textile, as an intimate partner of human body, shows promising application in wearable thermoelectrics for body heat conversion. Compared with other widely studied flexible film thermoelectric materials, textiles having better air-permeability, wearability, and flexibility are more suitable for wearable electronics. In the past few years, many researches have focused on the design and fabrication of textile-based thermoelectric materials and generators. By integrating with high performance inorganic semiconductors and conductive polymers, fabrics or fibers will be given thermoelectric properties. Technologies of coating, printing, and even thermal drawing can be adopted in the fabrication of textile thermoelectric materials. With great design flexibility, various flexible textile generator structures can be obtained by using yarns or fabrics as thermoelectric legs, which will bring new inspirations for the future development of flexible thermoelectrics.
Part of the book: Bringing Thermoelectricity into Reality