A hierarchical design for thermoelectric hybrid materials: Bi₂Te₃ particles covered by partial Au skins enhance thermoelectric performance in sticky thermoelectric materials

Abstract

Sticky thermoelectric (TE) materials have been inversely designed to enable the mass production of flexible TE sheets through lamination or roll-to-roll processes without using electrically conductive adhesives. They have also been demonstrated as inorganic/organic hybrid materials consisting of TE inorganic particles and low-volatilizable organic solvents to exhibit Seebeck coefficients based on the TE particles and low thermal conductivities based on the organic matrix. To achieve energy harvesting of 250 µW for driving various electric devices using voltage boosters, herein, we employ p- and n-type Bi₂Te₃ particles due to their high Seebeck coefficients, and cover the Bi₂Te₃ bodies with Au skins because the interfacial electrical resistance depends on the electrical resistance of opposing substances at the interface. After controlling the plating amount to cover the Bi₂Te₃ particles with Au skins, we achieve a TE power generation two orders of magnitude greater than the previous study, i.e., 255 µW on a hot plate of 110 °C with a 6 × 6 module. Overall, with input from other organic devices, like organic light-emitting diodes and dye-sensitized solar cells, this study presents a hierarchical design for TE hybrid materials that suppresses the thermal conduction by hybridizing TE particles with the organic matrix at the microscale. This reduces the electrical resistance by modifying the interfaces of the TE particles at the nanoscale and optimizes the Seebeck coefficient of TE particles at the atomic scale. To compete with solid-state TE modules with regards to power generation capacity, the hierarchical design towards a possible further two orders of magnitude improvement is also discussed.

Keywords

Hybrid materials / Bi₂Te₃ particles / particle plating / hierarchical design / organic light-emitting diodes / dye-sensitized solar cells

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