Conformal organic–inorganic semiconductor composites for flexible thermoelectrics

Qing Xu; Sanyin Qu; Chen Ming; Pengfei Qiu; Qin Yao; Chenxi Zhu; Tian-Ran Wei; Jian He; Xun Shi; Lidong Chen

doi:10.1039/C9EE03776D

Conformal organic–inorganic semiconductor composites for flexible thermoelectrics†

Qing Xu,‡^abc Sanyin Qu,

‡^a Chen Ming,

^a Pengfei Qiu,

*^ab Qin Yao,^a Chenxi Zhu,^a Tian-Ran Wei,

^d Jian He,

*^e Xun Shi

*^a and Lidong Chen^ab

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
E-mail: qiupf@mail.sic.ac.cn, xshi@mail.sic.ac.cn

^b Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

^c School of Physical Science and Technology, Shanghai Tech University, Shanghai 201210, China

^d State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

^e Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
E-mail: jianhe@g.clemson.edu

Abstract

The development of flexible organic–inorganic thermoelectric composites constitutes a promising material approach toward harvesting heat from the human body or environment to power wearable electronics. To this end, compositing one-dimensional inorganic materials, such as carbon nanotubes or metal nanowires, with organic polymers has demonstrated efficacy but also drawbacks: e.g., the Seebeck coefficient of an inorganic constituent is too low to meet the onset voltage requirement of electronics, and it is hard to attain coherent interfaces between the inorganic and organic constituents. Here, we proposed a dimensionality/morphology matching strategy and conducted a proof-of-principle study on (PVDF)/Ta₄SiTe₄ organic–inorganic composites. A record high normalized maximum power density of 0.13 W m⁻¹ at a temperature difference of 35.5 K was obtained in prototype flexible thermoelectric modules made of (PVDF)/Ta₄SiTe₄ composites. This study attests to the efficacy of the dimensionality/morphology matching strategy and the potential of using such conformal semiconducting organic–inorganic composites in wearable electronics.

Energy & Environmental Science

Conformal organic–inorganic semiconductor composites for flexible thermoelectrics†

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