Solution-Processed Cu2Se Nanocrystal Films with Bulk-Like Thermoelectric Performance

Jason D Forster,Nelson E Coates,David G Cahill,Edmond Zaia,Hyejin Jang,Jeffrey J Urban,Jun Liu,Jared J Lynch,Ayaskanta Sahu,Madeleine P Gordon,Maxime Szybowski

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-02944-1

Abstract

Thermoelectric power generation can play a key role in a sustainable energy future by converting waste heat from power plants and other industrial processes into usable electrical power. Current thermoelectric devices, however, require energy intensive manufacturing processes such as alloying and spark plasma sintering. Here, we describe the fabrication of a p-type thermoelectric material, copper selenide (Cu2Se), utilizing solution-processing and thermal annealing to produce a thin film that achieves a figure of merit, ZT, which is as high as its traditionally processed counterpart, a value of 0.14 at room temperature. This is the first report of a fully solution-processed nanomaterial achieving performance equivalent to its bulk form and represents a general strategy to reduce the energy required to manufacture advanced energy conversion and harvesting materials.

Highlights

Thermoelectric power generation can play a key role in a sustainable energy future by converting waste heat from power plants and other industrial processes into usable electrical power
We describe the fabrication of a p-type thermoelectric material, copper selenide (Cu2Se), utilizing solution-processing and thermal annealing to produce a thin film that achieves a figure of merit, ZT, which is as high as its traditionally processed counterpart, a value of 0.14 at room temperature
Thermoelectric power generators (TEGs) are solid-state, direct heat to electrical energy devices that can address the above issues in multiple ways

Summary

Introduction

Thermoelectric power generation can play a key role in a sustainable energy future by converting waste heat from power plants and other industrial processes into usable electrical power. We describe the fabrication of a p-type thermoelectric material, copper selenide (Cu2Se), utilizing solution-processing and thermal annealing to produce a thin film that achieves a figure of merit, ZT, which is as high as its traditionally processed counterpart, a value of 0.14 at room temperature. This is the first report of a fully solution-processed nanomaterial achieving performance equivalent to its bulk form and represents a general strategy to reduce the energy required to manufacture advanced energy conversion and harvesting materials. Examples in the literature are abundant and include reports of photovoltaics[14,15,16] and other optoelectronic devices[17, 18], electronic devices such as field-effect transistors[19,20,21,22], and, of particular relevance to this work, thermoelectrics[8, 12, 23,24,25,26,27,28]

Methods

Results

Conclusion