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Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 3)
Project Objective
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Project Description
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description previously published (edit as needed): We are proposing a budget of $39.5k to support labor; material costs; synthesis; ink formulation; extrusion-based printing; and characterization to further develop the In Space Manufacturing of Thermoelectric Devices for Energy Harvesting. The research team will include two engineers from MSFC; a senior research scientist from Boise State University (BSU); and two students at BSU. This study will focus on life cycle of thermoelectric structures and devices. Thermoelectric devices are valuable power sources to provide power for electronics including printed circuit boards; gas sensors; and wearables. These devices can be manufactured in reduced gravity environments; this has been studied during parabolic flight testing by the On-Demand Manufacturing of Electronics project. Using the same technology that has been tested in microgravity to additively manufacture these structures enables the production of devices to power these electronics and would provide a significant advantage to making deep-space habitation systems more sustainable. The research and development of the materials; processes; and designs will help to validate and verify the suitability of thermoelectrics that have the performance required to power important components. This work will lead to production of inks with higher loading of active materials and larger particles to achieve better performance; resulting in a 20% or greater increase over current state of the art additive manufacturing of the same materials. The ability to make inks for both the p-type and n-type thermoelectric materials will ensure that there is compatibility and open more possibilities for complex device design to achieve better performance within a smaller footprint. Results from this work and improved performance of these materials will be of interest to the development of flexible electronics as well as applications for ISS operations; Artemis & Lunar Surface Habitation; and Moon and Cislunar to Mars objectives.
Project Results and Conclusions
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