High thermoelectric performance of flexible nanocomposite films based on Bi2Te3 nanoplates and carbon nanotubes selected using ultracentrifugation

Abstract

Thermoelectric generators with flexibility and high performance near 300 K have the potential to be employed in self-supporting power supplies for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) exhibits high thermoelectric performance, and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) show excellent flexibility. Therefore, composites of Bi2Te3 and SWCNTs should exhibit an optimal structure and high performance. In this study, flexible nanocomposite films based on Bi2Te3 nanoplates and SWCNTs were prepared by drop casting on a flexible sheet, followed by thermal annealing. Bi2Te3 nanoplates were synthesized using the solvothermal method, and SWCNTs were synthesized using the super-growth method. To improve the thermoelectric properties of the SWCNTs, ultracentrifugation with a surfactant was performed to selectively obtain suitable SWCNTs. This process selects thin and long SWCNTs but does not consider the crystallinity, chirality distribution, and diameters. A film consisting of Bi2Te3 nanoplates and the thin and long SWCNTs exhibited high electrical conductivity, which was six times higher than that of a film with SWCNTs obtained without ultracentrifugation; this is because the SWCNTs uniformly connected the surrounding nanoplates. The power factor was 6.3 μW/(cm K2), revealing that this is one of the best-performing flexible nanocomposite films. The findings of this study can support the application of flexible nanocomposite films in thermoelectric generators to provide self-supporting power supplies for IoT devices.