Present research topic at IMM-CNR in Lecce is related to design, optimization and development of wearable and flexible thermoelectric generators for application in body area network devices and sensors. Thermoelectric generators are compact, robust and reliable devices for the direct conversion of waste heat into electricity, particularly attractive because silent, maintenance-free and devoid of moving parts. Thermoelectric energy harvesting is applied in a wide variety of applications, from biomedical to industrial, and in the last years it was observed an increasing interest of researchers and industries in the design and optimization of potentially scalable low cost solutions for self-powered wearable mobile electronics.
In such contest, the flexible technology represents a key for the development of unobtrusive wearable devices, whereas the challenge is achieving the successful integration of different functionalities on the same flexible support. The research activity is also devoted to a reliable system integration with a ultra-low voltage CMOS 65 nm technology start-up DC-DC converter.
Contact person: Luca Francioso