Effects of selenium addition in nanostructured tellurium/PEDOT:PSS thermoelectric composite materials on the improvement of oxidation stability

Abstract

Recently, the development of a composite thermoelectric material including conducting polymer (PEDOT:PSS) and nanostructured tellurium (Te) offers both high thermoelectric performance and mechanical flexibility. But they are usually vulnerable to oxidation, which limits the material's ability to continuously harvest energy in any environment. To address this issue, this report presents a Se doping strategy to improve the oxidation stability of the composite material, and evaluates the material characteristics and thermoelectric properties of synthesized composites. Se-doped nanostructured Te/PEDOT:PSS composite materials have improved oxidation stability and thermoelectric properties, making them a promising candidate for the next-generation thermoelectric device application.