Flexible thermoelectric generators (TEGs) have shown immense potential for serving as a power source for wearable electronics and the Internet of Things. A key challenge preventing large-scale application of TEGs lies in the lack of a high-throughput processing method, which can sinter thermoelectric (TE) materials rapidly while maintaining their high thermoelectric properties. Herein, we integrate high-throughput experimentation and Bayesian optimization (BO) to accelerate the discovery of the optimum sintering conditions of silver–selenide TE films using an ultrafast intense pulsed light (flash) sintering technique. Due to the nature of the high-dimensional optimization problem of flash sintering processes, a Gaussian process regression (GPR) machine learning model is established to rapidly recommend the optimum flash sintering variables based on Bayesian expected improvement. For the first time, an ultrahigh-power factor flexible TE film (a power factor of 2205 μW m −1 K −2 with a zT of 1.1 at 300 K) is demonstrated with a sintering time less than 1.0 second, which is several orders of magnitude shorter than that of conventional thermal sintering techniques. The films also show excellent flexibility with 92% retention of the power factor (PF) after 10 3 bending cycles with a 5 mm bending radius. In addition, a wearablemore »
This content will become publicly available on September 1, 2023
Development of MEMS Process Compatible (Bi,Sb)2(Se,Te)3-Based Thin Films for Scalable Fabrication of Planar Micro-Thermoelectric Generators
Bismuth telluride-based thin films have been investigated as the active material in flexible and micro thermoelectric generators (TEGs) for near room-temperature energy harvesting applications. The latter is a class of compact printed circuit board compatible devices conceptualized for operation at low-temperature gradients to generate power for wireless sensor nodes (WSNs), the fundamental units of the Internet-of-Things (IoT). CMOS and MEMS compatible micro-TEGs require thin films that can be integrated into the fabrication flow without compromising their thermoelectric properties. We present results on the thermoelectric properties of (Bi,Sb)2(Se,Te)3 thin films deposited via thermal evaporation of ternary compound pellets on four-inch SiO2 substrates at room temperature. Thin-film compositions and post-deposition annealing parameters are optimized to achieve power factors of 2.75 mW m−1 K−2 and 0.59 mW m−1 K−2 for p-type and n-type thin films. The measurement setup is optimized to characterize the thin-film properties accurately. Thin-film adhesion is further tested and optimized on several substrates. Successful lift-off of p-type and n-type thin films is completed on the same wafer to create thermocouple patterns as per the target device design proving compatibility with the standard MEMS fabrication process.
- Award ID(s):
- 2110603
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10374299
- Journal Name:
- Micromachines
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 9
- Page Range or eLocation-ID:
- 1459
- ISSN:
- 2072-666X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Over the past decade, Ag 2 Se has attracted increasing attention due to its potentially excellent thermoelectric (TE) performance as an n-type semiconductor. It has been considered a promising alternative to Bi–Te alloys and other commonly used yet toxic and/or expensive TE materials. To optimize the TE performance of Ag 2 Se, recent research has focused on fabricating nanosized Ag 2 Se. However, synthesizing Ag 2 Se nanoparticles involves energy-intensive and time-consuming techniques with poor yield of final product. In this work, we report a low-cost, solution-processed approach that enables the formation of Ag 2 Se thin films from Cu 2−x Se template films via cation exchange at room temperature. Our simple two-step method involves fabricating Cu 2−x Se thin films by the thiol-amine dissolution of bulk Cu 2 Se, followed by soaking Cu 2−x Se films in AgNO 3 solution and annealing to form Ag 2 Se. We report an average power factor (PF) of 617 ± 82 μW m −1 K −2 and a corresponding ZT value of 0.35 at room temperature. We obtained a maximum PF of 825 μW m −1 K −2 and a ZT value of 0.46 at room temperature for our best-performing Ag 2more »
-
This work presents an energy efficient technique for fabricating flexible thermoelectric generators while using printable ink. We have fabricated thermoelectric composite thick films using two different mesh sizes of n-type bismuth particles, various binder to thermoelectric material weight ratios, and two different pressures, 200 MPa and 300 MPa, in order to optimize the thermoelectric properties of the composite films. The use of chitosan dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide with less than 0.2 wt. % of chitosan, the first time chitosan has been used in this process, was sufficient for fabricating TE inks and composite films. Low temperature curing processes, along with uniaxial pressure, were used to evaporate the solvent from the drop-casted inks. This combination reduced the temperature needed compared to traditional curing processes while simultaneously increasing the packing density of the film by removing the pores and voids in the chitosan-bismuth composite film. Microstructural analysis of the composite films reveals low amounts of voids and pores when pressed at sufficiently high pressures. The highest performing composite film was obtained with the weight ratio of 1:2000 binder to bismuth, 100-mesh particle size, and 300 MPa of pressure. The best performing bismuth chitosan composite film that was pressed at 300 MPa had amore »
-
In the past decade, great efforts have been devoted to the development of organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites for achieving efficient photovoltaics, but less attention has been paid to their thermoelectric applications. In this study, for the first time, we report the thermoelectric performance of 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4-TCNQ) doped NH 2 CHNH 2 SnI 3 (FASnI 3 ) thin films. It is found that the electrical conductivities of the F4-TCNQ doped FASnI 3 thin films increase and then decrease along with increased doping levels of F4-TCNQ. Systematic studies indicate that enhanced electrical conductivities are attributed to the increased charge carrier concentrations and mobilities and superior film morphologies of the F4-TCNQ doped FASnI 3 thin films, and decreased electrical conductivities originate from the cracks and poor film morphology of the F4-TCNQ doped FASnI 3 thin films induced by excess F4-TCNQ dopants. The quantitative thermal conductivity scanning thermal microscopy studies reveal that the F4-TCNQ doped FASnI 3 thin films exhibit ultralow thermal conductivities. Moreover, the thermoelectric performance of the F4-TCNQ doped FASnI 3 thin films is investigated. It is found that the F4-TCNQ doped FASnI 3 thin films exhibit a Seebeck coefficient of ∼310 μV K −1 , a power factor of ∼130 μW mmore »
-
Abstract Large area highly crystalline MoS2and WS2thin films were successfully grown on different substrates using radio-frequency magnetron sputtering technique. Structural, morphological and thermoelectric transport properties of MoS2,and WS2thin films have been investigated systematically to fabricate high-efficient thermal energy harvesting devices. X-ray diffraction data revealed that crystallites of MoS2and WS2films are highly oriented in 002 plane with uniform grain size distribution confirmed through atomic force microscopy study. Surface roughness increases with substrate temperature and it plays a big role in electron and phonon scattering. Interestingly, MoS2films also display low thermal conductivity at room temperature and strongly favors achievement of higher thermoelectric figure of merit value of up to 1.98. Raman spectroscopy data shows two distinct MoS2vibrational modes at 380 cm−1for E12gand 410 cm−1for A1g. Thermoelectric transport studies further demonstrated that MoS2films show p-type thermoelectric characteristics, while WS2is an n-type material. We demonstrated high efficient pn-junction thermoelectric generator device for waste heat recovery and cooling applications.
