Transparent flexible thin-film p–n junction thermoelectric module

Abstract

Transparent and flexible thermoelectrics has been highly sought after for future wearable devices. However, the main stumbling block to prevent its widespread adoption is the lack of p-type transparent thermoelectrics and the stringent criteria of electrical and thermal properties matching appropriately between p-legs and n-legs. This work demonstrates the fabrication of p-type PEDOT:PSS films whose optical properties, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and Seebeck coefficient were engineered to perfectly match the n-type indium tin oxide (ITO) counterparts. The dense p-type PEDOT:PSS and n-type ITO thin films show a thermoelectric figure of merit of zT = 0.30 and 0.29 at 450 K, and a thermal conductivity of 0.22 and 0.32 W m−1 K−1, respectively. A flexible thermoelectric generator (TEG) module with a high transmittance of >81% in the visible wavelength range of 400–800 nm is fabricated using 10 pairs of p-type PEDOT:PSS and n-type ITO thin film legs. An ultra-high power density of 22.2 W m−2 at a temperature gradient of 80 K was observed, which is the highest power density reported for organic/hybrid-based flexible TEGs so far. Our transparent flexible thin-film p–n junction thermoelectric module with exceptionally high power generation may take a tremendous step forward towards multi-functional wearable devices. © 2020, The Author(s).