Screen-Printed Flexible Thermoelectric Device Based on Hybrid Silver Selenide/PVP Composite Films

Abstract

In recent years, the preparation of flexible thermoelectric generators by screen printing has attracted wide attention due to easy processing and high-volume production. In this work, we propose an n-type Ag2Se/polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) film based on screen printing and investigate the effect of PVP on thermoelectric performance by varying the ratio of PVP. When the content ratio of Ag2Se to PVP is 30:1, i.e., PI30, the fabricated PI30 film has the best thermoelectric property. The maximum power factor (PF) of the PI30 is 4.3 μW·m−1·K−2, and conductivity reaches 81% of its initial value at 1500 bending cycles. Then, the film thermoelectric generator (F-TEG) fabricated by PI30 is tested for practical application; the output voltage and the maximum output power are 21.6 mV and 233.3 nW at the temperature difference of 40 K, respectively. This work demonstrates that the use of PVP combined with screen printing to prepare F-TEG is a simple and rapid method, which provides an efficient preparation solution for the development of environmentally friendly and wearable flexible thermoelectric devices.

Preparation and Characterization of Screen-Printed Cu2S/PEDOT:PSS Hybrid Films for Flexible Thermoelectric Power Generator

“…The output voltage of the f-TEG was 34.0 mV at the ∆T of 20 K and 60.0 mV at the ∆T of 35 K. Based on the above test of Cu2S film, the f-TEG selected P1.2 as the p-type thermocouple. Our research group previously conducted the corresponding research on n-type thermocouples [35]. The group prepared the Ag2Se/PVP films.…”

“…The maximum PF of composite films was 56.15 μW·m −1 ·K −2 when Cu 2 S content was 10 wt% at 393 K. Liang et al [ 34 ] prepared Cu 2 S by Ti4+ doping. The peak ZT value of 0.54 at 673 K. As a fast, very low-cost, graphic, and large-area method for screen printing to prepare thin films, there are few reports on Cu 2 S flexible thermoelectric films, although it has been widely used to prepare other thermoelectric films [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Therefore, the preparation of high-performance Cu 2 S thermoelectric films and graphic thermoelectric device structure design by screen printing is essential for developing Te-free thermoelectric devices and self-powered wireless monitoring by making full use of waste heat from underground pipe networks.…”

“…In addition, a fully printed Te-free flexible thermoelectric device with a fan-shaped structure was constructed. Its output performance was investigated in detail by combining the n-type Ag 2 Se thermoelectric film with superior performance prepared by our group’s previous work [ 35 ]. This TEG is expected to obtain high electrical output capability after being prepared by multi-layer stacking, which can provide an effective solution for continuous underground pipe network self-supply wireless monitoring.…”

Recent Advances in the Nanomaterials, Design, Fabrication Approaches of Thermoelectric Nanogenerators for Various Applications

“…[91,92] Recent works have shown the potential of Ag 2 Se to replace the more efficient but brittle Bi 2 Te 3 materials for flexible TEGs. [88,93,94] For example, Jiang et al [27] fabricated a flexible TENG based on n-type Ag 2 Se with a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) binder material for portable electronics and IoT applications. The Ag 2 Se alloy was coated with a thin layer of PVP via vacuum filtration through a nylon membrane followed by hot pressing, yielding a flexible film comprised of randomly dispersed micropores.…”

Flexible Thermoelectric Reduced Graphene Oxide/Ag2S/Methyl Cellulose Composite Film Prepared by Screen Printing Process

“…The screen printing process has the virtues of economy, flexibility, strong adaptability, and easy operation; additionally, the thicknesses of the as-prepared materials can be adjusted in a wide range [27][28][29][30]. The screen printing process is always used for the preparation of polymer and inorganic/polymer TE materials [31][32][33][34][35][36]. For instance, in 2014, Wei et al [31] prepared PEDOT:PSS films by a screen printing process on a paper substrate, and a PF = 34 µW m −1 K −2 at 473 K was achieved.…”