Facile preparation of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate)/Ag2Te nanorod composite films for flexible thermoelectric generator

In this work,poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)(PEDOT:PSS)coated silver telluride(PCeAg2Te)nanorods were prepared by a wet-chemical method using the PEDOT:PSS coated tellurium(PCeTe)nanorods as the templates.Flexible PCeAg2Te nanocomposite film on polyethersulfone(PES)substrate was prepared through vacuum filtration followed by mechanical pressing process.An optimal PCeAg2Te nanocomposite film showed a maximum power factor of 143.3 mW/mK^(2) at room temperature and 221.7 μW/mK^(2 ) at 373 K.The electrical conductivity of the PCeAg2Te composite film decreased by3.3%after bending for 1000 times around a rod with a radius of 5 mm.An eight-leg thermoelectric generator assembled with the optimal PCeAg2Te nanocomposite film generated a maximum output power and output density of 209.4 nW and 141.5 mW/cm^(2) at a temperature gradient of 30.3 K.This work provides a facile method to prepare thermoelectric materials for flexible thermoelectric generators.