Semiconductor glass with superior flexibility and high room temperature thermoelectric performance

摘要

Most crystalline inorganic materials, except for metals and some layer materials, exhibit bad flexibility because of strong ionic or covalent bonds, while amorphous materials usually display poor electrical properties due to structural disorders. Here, we report the simultaneous realization of extraordinary room temperature flexibility and thermoelectric performance in Agsub2/subTesub1– x /subS subx/sub –based materials through amorphization. The coexistence of amorphous main phase and crystallites results in exceptional flexibility and ultralow lattice thermal conductivity. Furthermore, the flexible Agsub2/subTesub0.6/subSsub0.4/sub glass exhibits a degenerate semiconductor behavior with a room temperature Hall mobility of ~750 cmsup2/sup Vsup?1/sup ssup?1/sup at a carrier concentration of 8.6 × 10sup18/sup cmsup?3/sup, which is at least an order of magnitude higher than other amorphous materials, leading to a thermoelectric power factor also an order of magnitude higher than the best amorphous thermoelectric materials known. The in-plane prototype uni-leg thermoelectric generator made from this material demonstrates its potential for flexible thermoelectric device.