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Fully Printed Organic-Inorganic Nanocomposites for Flexible Thermoelectric Applications.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Ou, Canlin 
Datta, Anuja 
Jing, Qingshen 
Busolo, Tommaso 

Abstract

Thermoelectric materials, capable of interconverting heat and electricity, are attractive for applications in thermal energy harvesting as a means to power wireless sensors, wearable devices, and portable electronics. However, traditional inorganic thermoelectric materials pose significant challenges due to high cost, toxicity, scarcity, and brittleness, particularly when it comes to applications requiring flexibility. Here, we investigate organic-inorganic nanocomposites that have been developed from bespoke inks which are printed via an aerosol jet printing method onto flexible substrates. For this purpose, a novel in situ aerosol mixing method has been developed to ensure uniform distribution of Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 nanocrystals, fabricated by a scalable solvothermal synthesis method, within a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate matrix. The thermoelectric properties of the resulting printed nanocomposite structures have been evaluated as a function of composition, and the power factor was found to be maximum (∼30 μW/mK2) for a nominal loading fraction of 85 wt % Sb2Te3 nanoflakes. Importantly, the printed nanocomposites were found to be stable and robust upon repeated flexing to curvatures up to 300 m-1, making these hybrid materials particularly suitable for flexible thermoelectric applications.

Description

Keywords

aerosol jet printing, energy harvesting, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate, solvothermal synthesis, thermoelectric nanocomposite

Journal Title

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1944-8244
1944-8252

Volume Title

10

Publisher

American Chemical Society (ACS)
Sponsorship
European Research Council (639526)
European Commission Horizon 2020 (H2020) Marie Sk?odowska-Curie actions (702868)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P007767/1)
Isaac Newton Trust (1540(s))
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L015978/1)