Inorganic Thermoelectric Fibers: A Review of Materials, Fabrication Methods, and Applications

Abstract

Thermoelectric technology can directly harvest the waste heat into electricity, which is a promising field of green and sustainable energy. In this aspect, flexible thermoelectrics (FTE) such as wearable fabrics, smart biosensing, and biomedical electronics offer a variety of applications. Since the nanofibers are one of the important constructions of FTE, inorganic thermoelectric fibers are focused on here due to their excellent thermoelectric performance and acceptable flexibility. Additionally, measurement and microstructure characterizations for various thermoelectric fibers (Bi-Sb-Te, Ag2Te, PbTe, SnSe and NaCo2O4) made by different fabrication methods, such as electrospinning, two-step anodization process, solution-phase deposition method, focused ion beam, and self-heated 3ω method, are detailed. This review further illustrates that some techniques, such as thermal drawing method, result in high performance of fiber-based thermoelectric properties, which can emerge in wearable devices and smart electronics in the near future.

Converting Brownmillerite to Alternate Layers of Oxygen‐Deficient and Conductive Nano‐Sheets with Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties

“…In the last decades, dozens of thermoelectric oxides like n-type perovskite CaMnO 3−δ , [48][49][50] SrTiO 3−δ , [51][52][53][54] Cd 3 TeO 6−δ , [55] p-type Na x CoO 2−δ , [39,56,57] Ca 3 Co 4 O 9.67−δ , [37,58,59] and Bi 2 Sr 2 Co 2 O 8.4−δ [60,61] have been synthesized. However, the oxygen deficiency was limited to a very small range (δ < 0.5) even under extreme synthesis environments, especially as regards p-type layered compounds.…”

Toughening Thermoelectric Materials: From Mechanisms to Applications

“…Benefiting from reliable, silent, and eco-friendly [ 1 ] merits, thermoelectric devices have been widely applied in aerospace, biomedicine, and integrated circuit [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. In the investigation of the origin of thermoelectric performances, thermoelectric effects include the Seebeck effect and the Peltier effect [ 6 ]. The Seebeck effect refers to the connection of two kinds of conductors or semiconductors to form a loop, where the loop current exists due to the thermoelectricity power caused by the joint of two ends with different temperatures Δ T .…”

Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties of Composites Prepared With Poly(3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene) Poly(Styrenesulfonate) and Vertically Aligned Se Wire

“…Various methods have been used to synthesize nanophase inorganic TEs, for example, methods using microwaves ( Wang et al, 2017 ), the hydrothermal synthesis method ( Li et al, 2019 ), and the electrochemical method ( Recatala-Gomez et al, 2020 ). Among these methods, the galvanic displacement reaction (GDR) offers several advantages, including low synthesis cost and easy reaction conditions ( Xin et al, 2021 ). This method is an electrochemical process driven by the redox potential difference between the sacrificial material and solution reacting ions.…”