Thermoelectric Silver‐Based Chalcogenides

Abstract

Heat is abundantly available from various sources including solar irradiation, geothermal energy, industrial processes, automobile exhausts, and from the human body and other living beings. However, these heat sources are often overlooked despite their abundance, and their potential applications remain underdeveloped. In recent years, important progress has been made in the development of high-performance thermoelectric materials, which have been extensively studied at medium and high temperatures, but less so at near room temperature. Silver-based chalcogenides have gained much attention as near room temperature thermoelectric materials, and they are anticipated to catalyze tremendous growth in energy harvesting for advancing internet of things appliances, self-powered wearable medical systems, and self-powered wearable intelligent devices. This review encompasses the recent advancements of thermoelectric silver-based chalcogenides including binary and multinary compounds, as well as their hybrids and composites. Emphasis is placed on strategic approaches which improve the value of the figure of merit for better thermoelectric performance at near room temperature via engineering material size, shape, composition, bandgap, etc. This review also describes the potential of thermoelectric materials for applications including self-powering wearable devices created by different approaches. Lastly, the underlying challenges and perspectives on the future development of thermoelectric materials are discussed.

Advances in Ag2Se-based thermoelectrics from materials to applications

“…143 Ag 2 Se-based films exhibit excellent thermoelectric performance and considerable flexibility, making them good candidates for FTEDs. 212,231…”

“…143 Ag 2 Se-based films exhibit excellent thermoelectric performance and considerable flexibility, making them good candidates for FTEDs. 212,231 Here, we summarize the recent progress in Ag 2 Se-based films, and Table 2 comprehensively summarizes the thermoelectric performance of Ag 2 Se-based films. For Ag 2 Se-based films, modulating n by newly developed methods and fabricating highly oriented crystal-based films are two directions.…”

Compositionally tuned hybridization of n-type Ag0 : Ag2Se under ambient conditions towards excellent thermoelectric properties at room temperature

“…4–6 Recently, orthorhombic Ag 2 Se has attracted much interest for near-room-temperature thermoelectric applications, owing to its outstanding electrical conductivity and glass-like thermal conductivity. 7,8 As such, Ag 2 Se and hybridized Ag 2 Se have also shown great potential for use in thermoelectric cooling 9 and driving wearable electronics/sensors. 8,10,11…”

“…7,8 As such, Ag 2 Se and hybridized Ag 2 Se have also shown great potential for use in thermoelectric cooling 9 and driving wearable electronics/sensors. 8,10,11…”

A Colloidal Synthesis Route Towards AgBiS2 Nanocrystals Based on Metal Xanthate Precursors

“…[5] Its photoconductivity and good thermoelectric properties have been already explored in several studies. [6][7][8] These promising results make it a potential material for replacing the toxic lead and cadmium chalcogenides. [9][10][11][12][13][14] Due to the increase of the environmental regulations and restrictions, more environmentally friendly materials, such as AgBiS 2 , a non-toxic and stable metal chalcogenide, are needed.…”