Facile preparation of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate)/Ag2Te nanorod composite films for flexible thermoelectric generator

In this work, poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) coated silver telluride (PC-Ag2Te) nanorods were prepared by a wet-chemical method using the PEDOT:PSS coated tellurium (PC-Te) nanorods as the templates. Flexible PC-Ag2Te nanocomposite film on polyethersulfone (PES) substrate was prepared through vacuum filtration followed by mechanical pressing process. An optimal PC-Ag2Te nanocomposite film showed a maximum power factor of 143.3 mu W/mK(2) at room temperature and 221.7 mu W/mK(2) at 373 K. The electrical conductivity of the PC-Ag2Te composite film decreased by similar to 3.3% after bending for 1000 times around a rod with a radius of 5 mm. An eight-leg thermoelectric generator assembled with the optimal PC-Ag2Te nanocomposite film generated a maximum output power and output density of 209.4 nW and 141.5 mu W/cm(2) at a temperature gradient of 30.3 K. This work provides a facile method to prepare thermoelectric materials for flexible thermoelectric generators. (C) 2020 The Chinese Ceramic Society. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.