Manzi Jacob, Weltner Ariel E, Varghese Tony, McKibben Nicholas, Busuladzic-Begic Mia, Estrada David, Subbaraman Harish
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boise State University, Boise, ID, 83725, USA.
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA.
Nanoscale. 2023 Apr 6;15(14):6596-6606. doi: 10.1039/d2nr06454e.
Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) convert temperature differences into electrical power and are attractive among energy harvesting devices due to their autonomous and silent operation. While thermoelectric materials have undergone substantial improvements in material properties, a reliable and cost-effective fabrication method suitable for microgravity and space applications remains a challenge, particularly as commercial space flight and extended crewed space missions increase in frequency. This paper demonstrates the use of plasma-jet printing (PJP), a gravity-independent, electromagnetic field-assisted printing technology, to deposit colloidal thermoelectric nanoflakes with engineered nanopores onto flexible substrates at room temperature. We observe substantial improvements in material adhesion and flexibility with less than 2% and 11% variation in performance after 10 000 bending cycles over 25 mm and 8 mm radii of curvature, respectively, as compared to previously reported TE films. Our printed films demonstrate electrical conductivity of 2.5 × 10 S m and a power factor of 70 μW m K at room temperature. To our knowledge, these are the first reported values of plasma-jet printed thermoelectric nanomaterial films. This advancement in plasma jet printing significantly promotes the development of nanoengineered 2D and layered materials not only for energy harvesting but also for the development of large-scale flexible electronics and sensors for both space and commercial applications.
热电发电机（TEG）可将温度差转化为电能，由于其自主且静音的运行特性，在能量收集装置中颇具吸引力。尽管热电材料在材料性能方面已有显著提升，但适用于微重力和太空应用的可靠且经济高效的制造方法仍是一项挑战，尤其是随着商业太空飞行和长期载人太空任务的频率不断增加。本文展示了使用等离子体喷射印刷（PJP）这种与重力无关的电磁场辅助印刷技术，在室温下将具有工程化纳米孔的胶体热电纳米片沉积到柔性基板上。与先前报道的TE薄膜相比，我们观察到材料附着力和柔韧性有显著改善，在分别以25毫米和8毫米曲率半径进行10000次弯曲循环后，性能变化小于2%和11%。我们印刷的薄膜在室温下显示出2.5×10 S m的电导率和70 μW m K的功率因数。据我们所知，这些是首次报道的等离子体喷射印刷热电纳米材料薄膜的值。等离子体喷射印刷的这一进展不仅极大地推动了用于能量收集的纳米工程二维和层状材料的发展，还推动了用于太空和商业应用的大规模柔性电子器件和传感器的发展。
