ICT2014 Abstracts

For this study, we have picked the BiTe-based alloy system since it is among the most studied thermoelectric (TE) material system and has higher ZT value of ~1 around room temperature.The nanoparticulate TE ink we produced is made up of discrete BiSbTe nanocrystals passivated with short chain inorganic surface ligands.The ligand system we use replaces the conventional organic ligands that have lower electrical conductivities and operating temperatures. During the film production process, the TE ink is sprayed on to hot substrates such as glass and Kapton polyimide using a simple low cost air gun.
By varying the spraying and annealing temperature we have created a uniformly distributed network of nanoparticles completely fused into a solid matrix. Final film thickness of films varies between 1-26 μm.By optimizing the spraying and film annealing temperatures, the volatility of residual counter ions can be increased to have minimized very low ppm levels of carbon. This approach has advantages over other techniques such as MBE since it is inexpensive, can scale easily and works on flexible substrates. Thermoelectric properties of the thin films including Seebeck coefficients and electrical conductivities will be presented.