We herein report the results of a facile two-step surfactant assisted reflux synthesis of bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) nanowires. The as-synthesised nanowires had diameters ranging from 70- 110 nm with a length varying between 0.4 and 3 µm and a preferential lattice orientation of (0  1 5) as determined by grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXRD). We demonstrate for the first time that a solvent/binder paste formulation of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)/ polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is suitable for screen-printing the Bi2Te3 nanowires with the potential for the fabrication of flexible thermoelectric materials. The wt% of PVDF in the composite films was varied from 10% to 20% to identifiy the optimal composition with a view to achieving maximum film flexibility whilst retaining the best thermoelectric performance. The films were screen-printed onto Kapton substrates and subjected to a post-printing annealing process to improve thermoelectric performance. The annealed and screen printed Bi2Te3/PVDF nanowire compsites yielded a maximum Seebeck coefficient -192 µVK-1 with a power factor of 34 µW m-1 K-2 at 225 K. The flexible screen printed composite films were flexible and found to be intact even after 2000 bending cycles.

WSeCl4 was obtained in good yield by heating WCl6 and Sb2Se3 in vacuo. Green crystals grown by sublimation were shown by an X-ray structure analysis to contain square pyramidal monomers...

The homologous series [Ge n Bu3(E n Bu)] (E = Te, Se, S; (1), (3) and (4)) and [Ge n Bu2(Te n Bu)2] (2) have been synthesized as mobile oils in excellent yield (72–93%) and evaluated as single-source precursors for the low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) of GeE thin films on silica. Compositional and structural characterizations of the deposits have been performed by grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and Raman spectroscopy, confirming the phase purity and stoichiometry. Electrical characterization via variable-temperature Hall effect measurements is also reported. Given the strong interest in GeTe and its alloys for thermoelectric applications, variable-temperature Seebeck data were also investigated for a series of p-type GeTe films. The data show that it is possible to tune the thermoelectric response through intrinsic Ge vacancy regulation by varying the deposition temperature, with the highest power factor (40 μW/K2cm@629 K) and effective ZT values observed for the films deposited at higher temperatures.

Semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides have gained increased interest as potential alternatives to graphene due to their tunable electronic bandgaps. In this study, we present the deposition of stoichiometric WS2xSe2-2x (0...

The thriving of Internet‐of‐Things and integrated wireless sensor networks has brought an unprecedented demand for sustainable micro‐Watt‐scale power supplies. Development of high‐performing micro‐thermoelectric generator (μ‐TEG) that can convert waste thermal energy into electricity and provide sustainable micro‐Watt‐scale power is therefore extremely timely and important. Herein, a significant advance in the development of earth‐abundant, nontoxic thermoelectric materials of aluminum‐doped zinc oxide (AZO) is presented. Through nanostructure engineering using a novel in situ O2 plasma treatment, AZO films are demonstrated with ultralow thermal conductivity of 0.16 W m−1 K−1 which is the lowest reported in the literature. This nanostructured film yields a power factor of 294 μW m−1 K−2 at 563 K and has resulted in a state‐of‐the‐art ZT of 0.11 at room temperature and 0.72 at 563 K for AZO thin films. Furthermore, the fabrication and testing of a prototype lateral μ‐TEG are reported based on the AZO thin film which achieves a power output of 1.08 nW with an applied temperature difference of 16.9 °C.