High performance n-type Ag<sub>2</sub>Se film on nylon membrane for flexible thermoelectric power generator.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30783113.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-08835-5 and PMC identifier 6381183.
- 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
Researches on flexible thermoelectric materials usually focus on conducting polymers and conducting polymer-based composites; however, it is a great challenge to obtain high thermoelectric properties comparable to inorganic counterparts. Here, we report an n-type Ag<sub>2</sub>Se film on flexible nylon membrane with an ultrahigh power factor ~987.4 ± 104.1 μWm<sup>-1</sup>K<sup>-2</sup> at 300 K and an excellent flexibility (93% of the original electrical conductivity retention after 1000 bending cycles around a 8-mm diameter rod). The flexibility is attributed to a synergetic effect of the nylon membrane and the Ag<sub>2</sub>Se film intertwined with numerous high-aspect-ratio Ag<sub>2</sub>Se grains. A thermoelectric prototype composed of 4-leg of the Ag<sub>2</sub>Se film generates a voltage and a maximum power of 18 mV and 460 nW, respectively, at a temperature difference of 30 K. This work opens opportunities of searching for high performance thermoelectric film for flexible thermoelectric devices.