Carbogels for sustainable and scalable thermoelectric applications

Abstract Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) leveraging commercially available thermal super-insulating materials offer a promising pathway for large-scale ambient waste heat recovery, adding economic and environmental value to industrial insulation systems. Achieving this requires optimizing thermoelectric (TE) properties through electrical functionalization while addressing associated engineering challenges. Herein, we demonstrate the potential of super-insulating resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) carbogels for sustainable and scalable TE applications. By combining pyrolysis and carbon fiber insertion, we achieved a 12-order-of-magnitude increase in electrical conductivity as well as ZT, while maintaining ultralow thermal conductivity (<50 mW m − 1 K −1 ). A thermoelectric vacuum insulation panel (TVIP) was fabricated as a proof-of-concept for a, self-powered, WiFi-enabled vacuum failure detection system for automotive or aerospace applications. Finally, using optimized output power and CAD-assisted assembly of a large-scale TEG module (1000 cm 2 ), the potential for scalable low-grade waste heat recovery is demonstrated.