Niobium-Doped Sb2Te3Nanowire Attached to Carbon Cloth to Enhance Thermoelectric Performance and Improve Thermoelectric Generators

Abstract

Carbon cloth (CC) has commonly been used as an electrochemical electrode substrate material; however, in this study, CC is used as a flexible and conductive substrate for an antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) material. Tellurium (Te) nanowires attached to CC were synthesized using a hydrothermal reaction. After the Te nanowires were synthesized, Sb2Te3 was continuously synthesized. The Sb2Te3 nanowires on CC exhibited a longer and more uniform wire shape than the Sb2Te3 nanowire obtained as a precipitate during the hydrothermal reaction. During the hydrothermal reaction, the Sb2Te3 nanowires were doped with niobium (Nb). The maximal power factor of 283.7 μW/mK2 was obtained when the Nb-doping content was 10% (1N-Sb2Te3/CC). A flexible thermoelectric generator (TEG) consisting of five p-type 1N-Sb2Te3/CC legs and the counterparts of five n-type Bi2Te3/CC legs was fabricated. The flexible TEG produced an open-circuit voltage of 50 mV and the highest power output of 5.01 μW at a temperature difference of ΔT = 40 K. © 2022 American Chemical Society.