Thermally regenerative electrochemical cycle

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.01 × C.05 · Temperature gradient × Thermogalvanicfamily: Thermogalvanic

Measured or reported performance

1. heat-to-electricity cycle efficiency (no heat recuperation)3.7%device2014
   copper hexacyanoferrate cathode against a Cu/Cu²⁺ anode, a thermally regenerative electrochemical cycle charged at one temperature and discharged at the other
   refs [1]
2. heat-to-electricity cycle efficiency (50 % heat recuperation assumed)5.7%model2014
   the same device and temperatures; the recuperation is an assumption, not a measured heat exchanger — the figure the abstract leads with; the atlas records it as a model datum because the 50 % recuperation is assumed
   refs [1]

best recorded efficiency (derived)

3.7% — heat-to-electricity cycle efficiency (no heat recuperation), device, 2014; derived from the structured data above, not a stored number

Typed bounds on this route

Every limit the atlas holds for this route, as constraint records: reached through bounded_by claims on the route's own entities. Hard bounds (an upper bound or a formula) decide the thermodynamic-bound check above; benchmarks, constitutive relations and resource limits are listed and never decisive. No prose limit exists anywhere (pass 42).

• Carnot limit · formula-bound · hard, applies to this route
  η ≤ 1 − T_c/T_h for any heat engine between reservoirs at T_h and T_c

Steps

1. 01
   Temperature gradient —drives→ Thermally regenerative electrochemical cycledemonstratedclaim record

   thermal → electrical · loss to thermal

   • a battery chemistry whose open-circuit voltage changes with temperature by ≈ 1 mV/K
   • charge at one temperature, discharge at the other, with heat recuperation between the two

   aqueous medium required · temperature gradient required

   refs [1]
2. 02
   Thermally regenerative electrochemical cycle —produces→ Ionic currentdemonstratedclaim record

   electrical → electrical

   refs [1]
3. 03
   Ionic current —converts into→ Electrical workestablishedclaim record

   electrical → electrical · loss to thermal

   • electrodes exchange the ionic current for an electronic current through the external load

   refs [2]

Evidence for the complete composition · 1

1. [1]
   S. W. Lee et al.. An electrochemical system for efficiently harvesting low-grade heat energy (2014)

   Nature Communications 5, 3942 · doi:10.1038/ncomms4942 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record

Evidence for the constituent relations · 2

1. [1]
   S. W. Lee et al.. An electrochemical system for efficiently harvesting low-grade heat energy (2014)

   Nature Communications 5, 3942 · doi:10.1038/ncomms4942 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
2. [2]
   A. J. Bard, L. R. Faulkner. Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications (2nd ed.) (2001)

   Wiley · book, no DOI · record