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Texture and Se vacancy optimization induces high thermoelectric performance in Bi2Se3 flexible thin films

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Abstract

Bi2Se3-based flexible thin film with high thermoelectric performance is promising for the waste heat recovery technology. In this work, a novel post-selenization method is employed to prepare n-type Bi2Se3 flexible thin films with highly textured structure. The strengthened texture and Se vacancy optimization can be simultaneously achieved by optimizing the selenization temperature. The highly oriented texture leads to the increased carrier mobility and results in a high electric conductivity of ~ 290.47 S·cm−1 at 623 K. Correspondingly, a high Seebeck coefficient (> 110 μW·K−1) is obtained due to the reduced carrier concentration, induced by optimizing vacancy engineering. Consequently, a high power factor of 3.49 μW·cm−1·K−2 at 623 K has been achieved in as-prepared highly-bendable Bi2Se3 flexible thin films selenized at 783 K. This study introduces an effective post-selenization method to tune the texture structure and vacancies of Bi2Se3 flexible thin films, and correspondingly achieves high thermoelectric performance.

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摘要

Bi2Se3基柔性薄膜因其具有高热电性能而可用于废热回收技术。本研究采用后硒化法，制备出具有高择优取向的n型Bi2Se3柔性薄膜。通过优化硒化温度，实现了增强织构强度和Se空位的优化。高择优取向微结构显著提高Bi2Se3柔性薄膜的载流子迁移率，在623 K下获得了高达~290.47 S·cm−1的电导率。同时，通过引入空位工程降低了柔性薄膜载流子浓度，实现Seebeck系数高于110 μW·K−1。最终有效提升薄膜热电性能，在623 K时Bi2Se3柔性薄膜功率因子达到3.49 μW·cm−1·K−2。以上研究为新型Bi2Se3高性能热电薄膜材料设计和性能优化提供了新思路。

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundations of Shandong Province (No. ZR2023ME001), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2023M732609), ShangRao City of Jiangxi Province (China) (No. 2022A006), and Doctoral Research Initiation Fund of Weifang University (No. 2023BS01). We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.cn) for English language editing.

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  1. Dong-Wei Ao and Wei-Di Liu have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Machinery and Automation, Weifang University, Weifang, 261061, China

    Dong-Wei Ao & Yi-Jie Gu

  2. Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia

    Wei-Di Liu

  3. Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Thin Films and Applications, Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems of Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China

    Yue-Xing Chen & Zhuang-Hao Zheng

  4. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China

    Fan Ma

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Ao, DW., Liu, WD., Chen, YX. et al. Texture and Se vacancy optimization induces high thermoelectric performance in Bi2Se3 flexible thin films. Rare Met. 43, 2796–2804 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-024-02643-7

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