Abstract
Flexible n-type tungsten carbide/polylactic acid (WC/PLA) composites were fabricated by additive manufacturing and their thermoelectric properties were investigated. The preparation of an n-type polymer-based thermoelectric composite with good stability in air atmosphere via additive manufacturing holds promise for application in flexible thermoelectric devices. For WC/PLA volume ratios varying from ~33% to 60%, the electrical conductivity of the composites increased from 10.6 to 42.2 S/cm, while the Seebeck coefficients were in the range −11 to −12.3 μV/K. The thermal conductivities of the composites varied from ~0.2 to ~0.28 W·m−1·K−1 at ~300 K.
Highlights
Thermoelectric (TE) power generators or refrigerators are based on the Seebeck effect or Peltier effect, respectively, and have the ability to convert heat into electrical power and vice versa
Attention has been paid to polymer-based TE composites, such as Te/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) [9], Bi2 Te3 /PEDOT:PSS [10], SnSe/PEDOT:PSS [11], carbon nanotube/poly(vinyl acetate) [12], and single-walled carbon nanotubes/polyaniline [13]
N-type tungsten carbide/polylactic acid (WC/PLA) thermoelectric composites were prepared by additive manufacturing
Summary
Thermoelectric (TE) power generators or refrigerators are based on the Seebeck effect or Peltier effect, respectively, and have the ability to convert heat into electrical power and vice versa. Polymers have low density, cost little, and are easy to fabricate [4], and are interesting for thermoelectrics in themselves [5,6,7,8], but are suitable matrices for fabrication of inorganic-polymer TE composites. Both conducting and non-conducting polymers have been used for TE materials. E.g., physical mixing [14], solution mixing [15], and in situ polymerization [16,17], the preparation of polymer-based TE composites tends to cause oxidation and uneven dispersion in the polymer matrices [3], which influences the TE properties of the polymer-based composites
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