3D Conformal Printing and Photonic Sintering of High‐Performance Flexible Thermoelectric Films Using 2D Nanoplates

Abstract

Flexible thermoelectric (TE) devices hold great promise for energy harvesting and cooling applications, with increasing significance to serve as perpetual power sources for flexible electronics and wearable devices. Despite unique and superior TE properties widely reported in nanocrystals, transforming these nanocrystals into flexible and functional forms remains a major challenge. Herein, demonstrated is a transformative 3D conformal aerosol jet printing and rapid photonic sintering process to print and sinter solution‐processed Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 nanoplate inks onto virtually any flexible substrates. Within seconds of photonic sintering, the electrical conductivity of the printed film is dramatically improved from nonconductive to 2.7 × 104 S m−1. The films demonstrate a room temperature power factor of 730 µW m−1 K−2, which is among the highest values reported in flexible TE films. Additionally, the film shows negligible performance changes after 500 bending cycles. The highly scalable and low‐cost fabrication process paves the way for large‐scale manufacturing of flexible devices using a variety of high‐performing nanoparticle inks.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jul 18, 2019
Source ID
10.1002/adfm.201901930

Entities

People

  • Chaochao Dun
  • Mortaza Saeidi‐javash
  • Wenzheng Kuang
  • Yanliang Zhang

Organizations

  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
  • National Science Foundation
  • United States Department of Energy
  • University of Notre Dame

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Nanoscale Plasmonic Nanotechnology
  • Solar Photovoltaics and Thermoelectric Devices.

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene