Facile Fabrication of N-Type Flexible CoSb3-xTex Skutterudite/PEDOT:PSS Hybrid Thermoelectric Films

Polymers

Takeaki Sakurai¹  Daniel Gutiérrez²  Asahi Kato²  Hong Pang²  Cédric Bourgès²  Takao Mori² 

[1] Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8577, Ibaraki, Japan;International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), NIMS, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Ibaraki, Japan;

关键词: n-type;    skutterudite;    PEDOT:PSS;    film;    flexible;    thermoelectric;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym14101986

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Alongiside the growing demand for wearable and implantable electronics, the development of flexible thermoelectric (FTE) materials holds great promise and has recently become a highly necessitated and efficient method for converting heat to electricity. Conductive polymers were widely used in previous research; however, n-type polymers suffer from instability compared to the p-type polymers, which results in a deficiency in the n-type TE leg for FTE devices. The development of the n-type FTE is still at a relatively early stage with limited applicable materials, insufficient conversion efficiency, and issues such as an undesirably high cost or toxic element consumption. In this work, as a prototype, a flexible n-type rare-earth free skutterudite (CoSb₃)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) binary thermoelectric film was fabricated based on ball-milled skutterudite via a facile top-down method, which is promising to be widely applicable to the hybridization of conventional bulk TE materials. The polymers bridge the separated thermoelectric particles and provide a conducting pathway for carriers, leading to an enhancement in electrical conductivity and a competitive Seebeck coefficient. The current work proposes a rational design towards FTE devices and provides a perspective for the exploration of conventional thermoelectric materials for wearable electronics.

【 授权许可】

Unknown