High-performance flexible p-type Ce-filled Fe3CoSb12 skutterudite thin film for medium-to-high-temperature applications

Dou Li; Xiao-Lei Shi; Jiaxi Zhu; Tianyi Cao; Xiao Ma; Meng Li; Zhuokun Han; Zhenyu Feng; Yixing Chen; Jianyuan Wang; Wei-Di Liu; Hong Zhong; Shuangming Li; Zhi-Gang Chen

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-48677-4

High-performance flexible p-type Ce-filled Fe₃CoSb₁₂ skutterudite thin film for medium-to-high-temperature applications

Nat Commun. 2024 May 18;15(1):4242. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48677-4.

Authors

Dou Li^#¹, Xiao-Lei Shi^#², Jiaxi Zhu¹, Tianyi Cao², Xiao Ma¹, Meng Li², Zhuokun Han³, Zhenyu Feng¹, Yixing Chen¹, Jianyuan Wang³, Wei-Di Liu², Hong Zhong⁴, Shuangming Li⁵, Zhi-Gang Chen⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, P. R. China.
² School of Chemistry and Physics, ARC Research Hub in Zero-emission Power Generation for Carbon Neutrality, and Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia.
³ MOE Key Laboratory of Material Physics and Chemistry Under Extraordinary Conditions, School of Physical Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, P. R. China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, P. R. China. zhonghong123@nwpu.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, P. R. China. lsm@nwpu.edu.cn.
⁶ School of Chemistry and Physics, ARC Research Hub in Zero-emission Power Generation for Carbon Neutrality, and Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia. zhigang.chen@qut.edu.au.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

P-type Fe₃CoSb₁₂-based skutterudite thin films are successfully fabricated, exhibiting high thermoelectric performance, stability, and flexibility at medium-to-high temperatures, based on preparing custom target materials and employing advanced pulsed laser deposition techniques to address the bonding challenge between the thin films and high-temperature flexible polyimide substrates. Through the optimization of fabrication processing and nominal doping concentration of Ce, the thin films show a power factor of >100 μW m^-1 K^-2 and a ZT close to 0.6 at 653 K. After >2000 bending cycle tests at a radius of 4 mm, only a 6 % change in resistivity can be observed. Additionally, the assembled p-type Fe₃CoSb₁₂-based flexible device exhibits a power density of 135.7 µW cm^-2 under a temperature difference of 100 K with the hot side at 623 K. This work fills a gap in the realization of flexible thermoelectric devices in the medium-to-high-temperature range and holds significant practical application value.