Dr. Luca Francioso Profile

Dr. Luca Francioso

Researcher at Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Publications (8)

PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | May 24, 2013

Wearable and flexible thermoelectric generator with enhanced package

Proc. SPIE. 8763, Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS VI

KEYWORDS: Infrared cameras, Thin films, Electronics, Skin, Resistance, Finite element methods, Thermoelectric materials, Thin film deposition, Prototyping, Temperature metrology

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Present work shows recent progresses in thin film-based flexible and wearable thermoelectric generator (TEG), finalized to support energy scavenging and local storage for low consumption electronics in Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) applications and buildings integration. The proposed TEG is able to recover energy from heat dispersed into the environment converting a thermal gradient to an effective electrical energy available to power ultra-low consumption devices. A low cost fabrication process based on planar thin-film technology was optimized to scale down the TEG dimensions to micrometer range. The prototype integrates 2778 thermocouples of sputtered Sb₂Te₃ and Bi₂Te₃ thin films (1 μm thick) on an area of 25 cm². The electrical properties of thermoelectric materials were investigated by Van der Pauw measurements. Transfer Length Method (TLM) analysis was performed on three different multi-layer contact schemes in order to select the best solution to use for the definition of the contact pads realized on each section of the thermoelectric array configuration to allow electrical testing of single production areas. Kapton polyimide film was used as flexible substrate in order to add comfortable lightweight and better wearability to the device. The realized TEG is able to autonomously recover the thermal gradient useful to thermoelectric generation thanks to an appropriate package designed and optimized by a thermal analysis based on finite element method (FEM). The proposed package solution consists in coupling the module realized onto Kapton foil to a PDMS layer opportunely molded to thermally insulate TEG cold junctions and enhance the thermal gradient useful for the energy scavenging. Simulations results were compared to experimental tests performed by a thermal infrared camera, in order to evaluate the real performance of the designed package. First tests conducted on the realized TEG indicate that the prototype is able to recover about 5°C between hot and cold thermocouples junctions with a thermal difference of 17°C initially available between body skin and environment, generating about 2 V of open circuit output voltage.

PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | May 5, 2011

Polyimide/PDMS flexible thermoelectric generator for ambient assisted living applications

Proc. SPIE. 8066, Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS V

KEYWORDS: Gold, Thin films, Electronics, Resistance, Bismuth, Thermoelectric materials, Chemical elements, Tellurium, Prototyping, Device simulation

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | May 15, 2007

Pulse voltammetry wine defects identification by means of miniaturized microelectrodes

Proc. SPIE. 6589, Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS III

KEYWORDS: Principal component analysis, Sensors, Electrodes, Silicon, Bioalcohols, Platinum, Silicon films, Photomasks, Semiconducting wafers, Liquids

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | May 15, 2007

Nanofabrication of TiO₂ nanowires: I-V characteristic and improvement of metal oxides gas sensing properties

Proc. SPIE. 6589, Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS III

KEYWORDS: Oxides, Thin films, Nanostructures, Gas sensors, Sensors, Metals, Silicon, Silicon films, Solids, Nanowires

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | May 15, 2007

Identification of wine defects by means of a miniaturized electronic tongue

Proc. SPIE. 6589, Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS III

KEYWORDS: Principal component analysis, Statistical analysis, Sensors, Electrodes, Silicon, Platinum, Tongue, Chemical analysis, Analytical research, Liquids

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | May 15, 2007

Detection of unburned fuel as contaminant in engine oil by a gas microsensor array

Proc. SPIE. 6589, Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS III

KEYWORDS: Gas sensors, Principal component analysis, Contamination, Statistical analysis, Sensors, Metals, Chemical analysis, Microsensors, Brain mapping, Neurons

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