Thermoelectric generation via tellurene for wearable applications: recent advances, research challenges, and future perspectives

Wearable real-time, non-invasive personalized health monitoring sensors and low-power electronics critically necessitate alternative power supplies because batteries have proven insufficient due to their demerits of charging cycles and periodic degradation and replacement. Thermoelectric energy harnessing from human body heat via the Seebeck effect is an effective route to develop flexible thermoelectric generators that enables continuous power supply for the wearable devices. This review focuses on critically assessing the theory, the performance, fabrication, and future steps of thermoelectric generation using two-dimensional (2D) tellurene and aims to provide insights as to how to integrate 2D tellurene into practical, durable wearable generators. The literature survey shows that 2D Tellurene nanomaterial has exceptional thermoelectric properties including high thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) as high as 2.9, and it possesses fabrication process-dependent thermoelectric properties and forms desirable electrical contacts. The flexible nature of 2D tellurene with high environmental stability and high strain resistance of up to 36% and Young's modulus of 27 GPa under bending conditions makes it an excellent material for especially wearable applications. Future research should focus on developing thermoelectric theory with computational methods for tellurene and its manufacturing methods to develop proof-of-concepts for thermoelectric devices. We hope this review would be a seminal work in the growing frontier of 2D tellurene wearable thermoelectrics for sensors for real-time monitoring of personalized health status.