High Power Factor of Ag2Se/Ag/Nylon Composite Films for Wearable Thermoelectric Devices

Wenhang Wu; Zheng Liang; Meng Jia; Yuwei Li; Xiongcong Guan; Yunfeng Zhan; Jinxiu Wen; Jianyi Luo

doi:10.3390/nano12234238

High Power Factor of Ag₂Se/Ag/Nylon Composite Films for Wearable Thermoelectric Devices

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Nov 28;12(23):4238. doi: 10.3390/nano12234238.

Authors

Wenhang Wu¹, Zheng Liang², Meng Jia¹, Yuwei Li¹, Xiongcong Guan¹, Yunfeng Zhan¹, Jinxiu Wen¹, Jianyi Luo¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Center of Flexible Sensing Materials and Devices, School of Applied Physics and Materials, Wuyi University, Jiangmen 529020, China.
² Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.

Abstract

A flexible thermoelectric device has been considered as a competitive candidate for powering wearable electronics. Here, we fabricated an n-type Ag₂Se/Ag composite film on a flexible nylon substrate using vacuum-assisted filtration and a combination of cold and hot pressing. By optimising the Ag/Se ratio and the sequential addition and reaction time of AA, an excellent power factor of 2277.3 μW∙m^-1 K^-2 (corresponding to a ZT of ~0.71) at room temperature was achieved. In addition, the Ag₂Se/Ag composite film exhibits remarkable flexibility, with only 4% loss and 10% loss in electrical conductivity after being bent around a rod of 4 mm radius for 1000 cycles and 2000 cycles, respectively. A seven-leg flexible thermoelectric device assembled with the optimised film demonstrates a voltage of 19 mV and a maximum power output of 3.48 μW (corresponding power density of 35.5 W m^-2) at a temperature difference of 30 K. This study provides a potential path to design improved flexible TE devices.

Keywords: Ag; Ag2Se; composite film; flexible device; thermoelectricity.

Abstract

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