Improved Thermoelectric Performance in Flexible Tellurium Nanowires/Reduced Graphene Oxide Sandwich Structure Hybrid Films

Abstract

With a high flexibility and an adjustable electronic structure, reduced graphene oxide (RGO) is a potential candidate for flexible thermoelectric materials. Here, we report that flexible RGO/tellurium nanowires (Te NWs)/RGO sandwich structure hybrid films are prepared on glass fabrics through the drop-cast method. The addition of 20 wt.% Te NWs into a RGO matrix remarkably improves the Seebeck coefficient from 15.2 μV/K to 89.7 μV/K while maintaining relatively high electrical conductivity, thus resulting in a one order of magnitude higher power factor value compared with the Te NWs. According to the values of carrier mobility and concentration of hybrid films, the improved thermoelectric properties are presented because of the energy filtering effect on the interfaces in hybrid films. This article suggests that RGO/Te NWs/RGO hybrid films would be promising for fabricating flexible energy sources.