High-performance shape-engineerable thermoelectric painting.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27834369.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms13403 and PMC identifier 5114615.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Output power of thermoelectric generators depends on device engineering minimizing heat loss as well as inherent material properties. However, the device engineering has been largely neglected due to the limited flat or angular shape of devices. Considering that the surface of most heat sources where these planar devices are attached is curved, a considerable amount of heat loss is inevitable. To address this issue, here, we present the shape-engineerable thermoelectric painting, geometrically compatible to surfaces of any shape. We prepared Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>-based inorganic paints using the molecular Sb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> chalcogenidometalate as a sintering aid for thermoelectric particles, with ZT values of 0.67 for n-type and 1.21 for p-type painted materials that compete the bulk values. Devices directly brush-painted onto curved surfaces produced the high output power of 4.0 mW cm<sup>-2</sup>. This approach paves the way to designing materials and devices that can be easily transferred to other applications.