Flexible thermoelectric materials are presented with potential applications in electronic devices and energy conversion due to their convenient preparation, good flexibility, and various forms. However, as ductility is rarely observed in inorganic semiconductors and ceramic insulators, reports on applications of inorganic oxide materials in flexible thermoelectric materials are sparse. Here, we report a new method for the synthesis of a flexible Na_1.4Co₂O₄ thermoelectric material based on Na_1.4Co₂O₄ bulk materials, which are prepared by a self-flux method and painted on print paper. Seebeck coefficient and power factor of the obtained thermoelectric material are 78–102 μVK^-1 and 159–223 μWm⁻¹K⁻², respectively, in a temperature range of 303–522 K, which are superior to those values of other conductive polymers and their compounds. More interestingly, the n-type Na_1.4Co₂O₄ flexible material is obtained in the painting process at higher pressure with Seebeck coefficients of −109 to −183 μVK⁻¹ in a temperature range of 303–522 K. The convenient preparation method of these novel flexible thermoelectric materials may be expanded to the synthesis of other flexible thermoelectric materials, which will be the focus of future work.

柔性热电材料由于制备方便、柔韧性好、形式多样，在电子器件和能量转换方面具有潜在的应用前景。然而，由于在无机半导体和陶瓷绝缘体中很少观察到延展性，关于无机氧化物材料在柔性热电材料中的应用的报道很少。在这里，我们报告了一种基于 Na _1.4 Co ₂ O ₄块状材料合成柔性 Na _1.4 Co ₂ O ₄热电材料的新方法，该材料是通过自熔法制备并涂在打印纸上的。所得热电材料的塞贝克系数和功率因数为 78-102 μVK^-1和 159-223 μWm ^-1 K ^-2分别在 303-522 K 的温度范围内，这优于其他导电聚合物及其化合物的值。更有趣的是，n型Na _1.4 Co ₂ O ₄柔性材料是在较高压力下在涂漆过程中获得的，塞贝克系数为-109至-183 μVK ^-1，温度范围为303-522 K。 方便的制备方法这些新型柔性热电材料的研究可能会扩展到其他柔性热电材料的合成，这将是未来工作的重点。