title: A Solution Processable High-Performance Thermoelectric Copper Selenide Thin Film.
abstract: A solid-state thermoelectric device is attractive for diverse technological areas such as cooling, power generation and waste heat recovery with unique advantages of quiet operation, zero hazardous emissions, and long lifetime. With the rapid growth of flexible electronics and miniature sensors, the low-cost flexible thermoelectric energy harvester is highly desired as a potential power supply. Herein, a flexible thermoelectric copper selenide (Cu2Se) thin film, consisting of earth-abundant elements, is reported. The thin film is fabricated by a low-cost and scalable spin coating process using ink solution with a truly soluble precursor. The Cu2Se thin film exhibits a power factor of 0.62 mW/(m K2) at 684 K on rigid Al2O3substrate and 0.46 mW/(m K2) at 664 K on flexible polyimide substrate, which is much higher than the values obtained from other solution processed Cu2Se thin films (<0.1 mW/(m K2)) and among the highest values reported in all flexible thermoelectric films to date (≈0.5 mW/(m K2)). Additionally, the fabricated thin film shows great promise to be integrated with the flexible electronic devices, with negligible performance change after 1000 bending cycles. Together, the study demonstrates a low-cost and scalable pathway to high-performance flexible thin film thermoelectric devices from relatively earth-abundant elements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Zhaoyang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Boise State University, ID, 83725, USA.
authors.forename: Courtney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hollar
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Joon Sang
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Anxiang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Yiliu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Hui-Ying
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Shiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Yongjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Boise State University, ID, 83725, USA.
authors.forename: Yanliang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Xiangfeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Duan
keywords: copper selenide; flexible; solution process; thermoelectric; thin film