Issue 10, 2021

Boosting the performance of printed thermoelectric materials by inducing morphological anisotropy

Abstract

Thermoelectrics can generate electrical energy from waste heat and work also as active coolers. However, their widespread use is hindered by their poor efficiency, which is aggravated by their costly and hard-to-scale fabrication process. Good thermoelectric performances require materials with high (low) electrical (thermal) conductivity. Inducing morphological anisotropy at the nanoscale holds promise to boost thermoelectric performances, in both inorganic and organic materials, by increasing the ratio electrical/thermal conductivity along a selected direction without strongly affecting the Seebeck coefficient. Recent advances in 2D/3D printed electronics are revealing new simple and inexpensive routes to fabricate thermoelectrics with the necessary morphological control to boost performance by inducing anisotropy.

Graphical abstract: Boosting the performance of printed thermoelectric materials by inducing morphological anisotropy

Article information

Article type
Minireview
Submitted
15 Huk 2020
Accepted
23 Yan 2021
First published
24 Yan 2021

Nanoscale, 2021,13, 5202-5215

Boosting the performance of printed thermoelectric materials by inducing morphological anisotropy

Y. Tian and F. Molina-Lopez, Nanoscale, 2021, 13, 5202 DOI: 10.1039/D0NR08144B

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