Flexible unipolar thermoelectric devices based on patterned poly[Kx(Ni-ethylenetetrathiolate)] thin films

Abstract

By printing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate as a mask, an insoluble and infusible metal coordination polymer, poly[K_x(Ni-ethylenetetrathiolate)] (poly[K_x(Ni-ett)]), film was patterned via an electrochemical deposition process. The method is verified to be capable of fabricating 108 n-type legs in one batch. A thermoelectric generator consisting of eighteen legs connected in series in one row had an output power of 0.468 μW under a temperature difference of 12 K with the best power density reaching up to 577.8 μW cm⁻².