literature surrounding printed telluride compounds has produced ZT values that are, for the most part, considerably lower.

Tin selenide (SnSe) has attracted much attention in the field of thermoelectrics since the discovery of the record figure of merit (zT) of 2.6 ± 0.3. While there have been many publications on p-type SnSe, to manufacture efficient SnSe thermoelectric generators, ann-type is also required. Publications on n-type SnSe, however, are limited. This paper reports a pseudo-3D-printing technique to fabricate bulk n-type SnSe elements, by utilizing Bi as a dopant. Various Bi doping levels are investigated and characterized over a wide range of temperatures and through multiple thermal cycles. Stable n-type SnSe elements are then combined with printed p-type SnSe elements to fabricate a fully printed alternating n-and p-type thermoelectric generator, which is shown to produce 145 μW at 774 K.

There has been much interest in tin selenide (SnSe) in the thermoelectric community since the discovery of the record zT in the material in 2014. Manufacturing techniques used to produce SnSe are largely energy-intensive (e.g., spark plasma sintering); however, recently, in previous work, SnSe has been shown to be produced via a low embodied energy printing technique, resulting in 3D samples with high zT values (up to 1.7). Due to the additive manufacturing technique, the manufacturing time required was substantial. In this work, 3D samples were printed using the inorganic binder sodium metasilicate and reusable molds. This facilitated a single-step printing process that substantially reduced the manufacturing time. The printed samples were thermally stable through multiple thermal cycles, and a peak zT of 0.751 at 823 K was observed with the optimum binder concentration. A proof-of-concept thermoelectric generator produced the highest power output of any reported printed Se-based TEG to date.