Effectiveness of Microporous Ceramic Heatsinks in Thermal Energy Harvesting Systems

The microporous ceramic heatsinks are suitable for heat dissipation in systems where natural cooling prevails within a limited space. This paper investigates the effectiveness of low- profile microporous ceramic heatsinks in conjunction with thermoelectric generators for powering the wireless sensor network nodes in natural cooling conditions. The minimum temperature differences between the heat source and the ambient necessary for the node's continuous operation are in the range of 18 °C to 29 °C, with delivered power of about 0.5 mW.