Preparation of n‐type Bi₂Te₃ thermoelectric materials by non‐contact dispenser printing combined with selective laser melting

Abstract

The manufacturing cost has been a bottle neck for broader applications of thermoelectric (TE) modules. We have developed a rapid, facile, and low cost method that combines noncontact dispenser printing with selective laser melting (SLM) and we demonstrate it on n-type Bi 2 Te 3 -based materials. Using this approach, single phase n-type Bi 2 Te 2.7 Se 0.3 thin layers with the Seebeck coefficient of À152 mV K À1 at 300 K have been prepared. Assembling such thin layers on top of each other, the performance of thus prepared bulk sample is comparable to Bi 2 Te 3 -based materials fabricated by the conventional techniques. Dispenser printing combined with SLM is a promising manufacturing process for TE materials.

Recent advances in printable thermoelectric devices: materials, printing techniques, and applications

“…57 Wu et al combined selective laser melting (SLM) with dispenser printing to achieve device performance comparable to bulk manufacturing technique. 58 However, using SLM complicates the fabrication process signicantly. The dispenser printing method was also utilized to fabricated cross-plane TEGs.…”

New frontier in printed thermoelectrics: formation of β-Ag2Se through thermally stimulated dissociative adsorption leads to high ZT

“…The resulting printable composite can then be printed through various printing techniques, e.g., screen printing or ink-jet printing, onto mechanically exible substrates and subsequently sintering them. [4][5][6] However, development of printable thermoelectric inks resulting in high efficiencies is a key challenge in the eld. The rheological adaptation of TE inks to the different printing techniques by introducing non-conductive additives and solvents oentimes leads to an overall reduced ZT value compared with the base thermoelectric material.…”

Laser Treatment as Sintering Process for Dispenser Printed Bismuth Telluride Based Paste

“…However, there it is stated that commercially available Bi 2 Te 3 powders usually do not fulfil the required specifications for additive manufacturing, especially for LPBF, which is also mentioned in Reference [7]. Two papers were published by a research group around Mao [9] and Wu [10]. Mao has synthesized Bi 2 Te 2.7 Se 0.3 by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS).…”

“…It can be clearly seen that the range of achievable thermoelectric properties is broad. At a first glance, comparing the two tables, laser processing seems to lead to much better properties, but it should be noted that after laser processing, the authors of References [9,10] annealed their specimen for several hours at 400 °C, which exceeds most temperatures in Table 2. The achieved power factors shown in Table 2 do not exceed a power factor of 7.28 × 10 −4 W/(mK²).…”