Drawbacks of low efficiency and high cost of the electrode materials have restricted the wide applications of the thermo-electrochemical cells (TECs). Due to high specific areas and electrical conductivities, the low cost multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) are promising alternative electrode materials. In this work, the MWNT films of up to 16 cm² were synthesized on stainless steel substrates by the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) to make the thermo-electrochemical electrodes. MWNT electrodes based on TECs were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and the long-term stability tests with the potassium ferri/ferrocyanide electrolyte. The TECs reached the current density of 45.2 A m⁻² and the maximum power density of 0.82 W m⁻². The relative power conversion efficiency of the MWNT electrode is 50 % higher than that for the Pt electrode. Meanwhile, the TECs was operated continuously for 300 h without performance degradation. With the priorities of low cost and simple fabrication, EPD-based MWNT TECs may become commercially viable.

An innovative hydrogen sensing concept is demonstrated based on the field emission from multi-walled carbon nanotubes, where the low emission currents rise in proportion to hydrogen partial pressures above 10 ⁻⁹ Torr.

Hybrid electrodes exhibit intriguing properties due to the synergetic effect of different components that are propitious for the practical applications of thermo-cells (TECs). In this study, Ag–carbon nanotube (CNT) hybrid electrodes were prepared using two simple and effective steps, involving the direct growth of CNTs on stainless steel substrates without any external catalyst, followed by decorating the CNTs with Ag nanoparticles. Ag–CNT electrodes were characterized via scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and were applied in TECs for the first time. The TEC performances of the Ag–CNT electrodes were significantly enhanced compared to that of the pristine CNT electrode due to their better conductivity and thermal conductivity, as well as more activation sites. The results show that the construction of Ag–CNT hybrid electrodes can effectively improve the TEC performances of CNT electrodes, which is promising for heat energy harvesting by CNT-based electrodes.

Ag–ZnO nanocomposites were prepared on alloy substrates by two simple and inexpensive steps, i.e. synthesis of ZnO nanorod arrays (ZNAs) by a low-temperature hydrothermal method, followed by electrophoretic deposition method to coat ZNAs with Ag nanoparticles (NPs). The sizes and densities of the Ag NPs could be facilely adjusted by changing the deposition time. The field emission (FE) performances of Ag–ZnO emitters were improved greatly by adjusting the sizes and densities of the Ag NPs, and the optimized FE performance of the Ag–ZnO emitter was obtained with the lowest turn-on field of 0.86 V μm⁻¹ and a current density up to 7.96 mA cm⁻² at 4.45 V μm⁻¹. More importantly, the Ag–ZnO emitter exhibited excellent current stabilities with 1900 min operation under only 6.5% current fluctuation. These results suggest that the Ag–ZnO composite is a promising cathode material for fabrication of future FE devices.

The application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a thermo-electrochemical cell (TEC) electrode is still difficult due to their weak contact with the substrate during the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method. In this study, by doping the suspension of the CNTs with Mg²⁺ and Ag powder, Ag–MgO–CNT nanocomposites were successfully prepared on a stainless steel (SS) substrate using the EPD method. The products were confirmed using characterization by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The TEC performance of the Ag–MgO–CNTs nanocomposite electrodes was significantly improved due to their higher conductivity, thermal conductivity and improved adhesion between the composite film and the SS substrate, depending on the concentrations of the Ag powder. The results suggest that constructing Ag–MgO–CNTs nanocomposite electrodes can effectively enhance the performance of CNTs-based TECs, which might be a promising way for energy harvesting using CNTs-based TECs prepared via the EPD technique.