It is a great challenge to substantially improve the practical performance of flexible thermoelectric modules due to the absence of air-stable n-type thermoelectric materials with high-power factor. Here an excellent flexible n-type thermoelectric film is developed, which can be conveniently and rapidly prepared based on the as-grown carbon nanotube continuous networks with high conductivity. The optimum n-type film exhibits ultrahigh power factor of ∼1,500 μW m−1 K−2 and outstanding stability in air without encapsulation. Inspired by the findings, we design and successfully fabricate the compact-configuration flexible TE modules, which own great advantages compared with the conventional π-type configuration modules and well integrate the superior thermoelectric properties of p-type and n-type carbon nanotube films resulting in a markedly high performance. Moreover, the research results are highly scalable and also open opportunities for the large-scale production of flexible thermoelectric modules.
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机译：由于不存在具有高功率因数的空气稳定的n型热电材料，因此大幅提高柔性热电模块的实际性能是一个巨大的挑战。在此，开发了一种优异的柔性n型热电薄膜，该薄膜可基于高导电性的碳纳米管生长网络方便，快速地制备。最佳的n型薄膜表现出约1,500μWm -1 K −2 的超高功率因数，并且在空气中无需封装即可具有出色的稳定性。受这些发现的启发，我们设计并成功制造了紧凑配置的柔性TE模块，与传统的π型配置模块相比，它具有很大的优势，并且很好地整合了p型和n型碳纳米管薄膜的优异热电性能。具有明显的高性能。此外，研究结果具有很高的可扩展性，也为大规模生产柔性热电模块提供了机会。
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