In this work, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) coated Ag-rich Ag 2 Te nanowires (NWs) were synthesized by a wet chemical method using PVP coated Te NWs as templates, and a flexible PVP/Ag/Ag 2 Te ternary composite film on a nylon membrane was prepared by vacuum assisted filtration, followed by heat treatment. TEM and STEM observations of the focused ion beam prepared sample reveal that the composite film shows a porous network-like structure and that the Ag and Ag 2 Te exist as nanoparticles and NWs, respectively, both bonded with PVP. The Ag nanoparticles are formed by separation of the Ag-rich Ag 2 Te NWs during the heat treatment. For the composite film starting from a Ag/Te initial molar ratio of 6:1, a high power factor of 216.5 μW/mK 2 is achieved at 300 K, and it increases to 370.1 μW/mK 2 at 393 K. Bending tests demonstrate excellent flexibility of the hybrid film. A thermoelectric (TE) prototype composed of five legs of the hybrid film is assembled, and a maximum output power of 469 nW is obtained at a temperature gradient of 39.6 K, corresponding to a maximum power density of 341 μW/cm 2 . This work provides an effective route to a composite film with high TE performance and excellent flexibility for wearable TE generators.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.