Flexible Carbon Nanotube-Epitaxially Grown Nanocrystals for Micro-Thermoelectric Modules.

Jin, Qun; Zhao, Yang; Long, Xuehao; Jiang, Song; Qian, Cheng; Ding, Feng; Wang, Ziqiang; Li, Xiaoqi et al. · Adv Mater · 2023

basic_science · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

Flexible thermoelectric materials have attracted increasing interest because of their potential use in thermal energy harvesting and high-spatial-resolution thermal management. However, a high-performance flexible micro-thermoelectric device (TED) compatible with the microelectronics fabrication process has not yet been developed. Here a universal epitaxial growth strategy is reported guided by 1D van der Waals-coupling, to fabricate freestanding and flexible hybrids comprised of single-wall carbon nanotubes and ordered (Bi,Sb)<sub>2</sub> Te<sub>3</sub> nanocrystals. High power factors ranging from ≈1680 to ≈1020 µW m<sup>-1</sup> K<sup>-2</sup> in the temperature range of 300-480 K, combined with a low thermal conductivity yield a high average figure of merit of ≈0.81. The fabricated flexible micro-TED module consisting of two p-n couples of freestanding thermoelectric hybrids has an unprecedented open circuit voltage of ≈22.7 mV and a power density of ≈0.36 W cm<sup>-2</sup> under ≈30 K temperature difference, and a net cooling temperature of ≈22.4 K and a heat absorption density of ≈92.5 W cm<sup>-2</sup> .