Deformation Mechanisms of Inorganic Thermoelectric Materials with Plasticity

Abstract

Flexible inorganic thermoelectric (TE) materials are beneficial to the development of wireless wearable devices due to their plasticity and high performance. Recently, many novel inorganic semiconductors with plasticity, such as ZnS single crystal, Ag2S‐based alloys, as well as single‐crystalline InSe and SnSe2, attract great attention. They are supposed to break the predicament between power output and mechanical deformability for TE systems with plasticity. To better understand the deformation of TE materials with plasticity and explore new systems, different deformation mechanisms for these plastically deformable inorganic TE materials are summarized. First, the concepts and requirements for inorganic TEs are presented with plasticity in wearable devices. Afterward, their mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms are elaborated including dislocation glide, interlayer slippage of atomic stacks, dual slippage of atomic stacks and dislocations, as well as phase transformation. Finally, a general outlook from previous research is suggested for forecasting the future directions. It is anticipated that this review can guide the design of inorganic TE materials with plasticity and provide insight into the wider application of plastically deformable inorganic semiconductors in electronic materials and devices.