Thermoelectric Characteristics of InAs Nanowire Networks Directly Grown on Flexible Plastic Substrates

Abstract

III-V semiconductor nanowires have shown promise for thermoelectric applications, but their use in practical devices has conventionally been hindered by complex fabrication processes and device integration. Here, we characterize the thermoelectric properties of InAs nanowire networks directly grown on flexible polyimide plastic. The n-type nanowire networks achieve a high room-temperature Seebeck coefficient of −110.8 μV K −1 and electrical conductivity of 41 S cm −1 , resulting in a thermoelectric power factor of 50.4 μW m −1 K −2 . Moreover, the nanowire networks show remarkable mechanical flexibility with a relative change in resistance below 0.01 at bending radii below 5.2 mm. We further establish the thermoelectric performance of InAs nanowire networks on plastic using a facile proof-of-concept thermoelectric generator producing a maximum power of 0.44 nW at a temperature gradient of 5 K. The findings indicate that direct growth of III-V nanowire networks on plastic substrates shows promise for the development of flexible thermoelectrics applications.

Physics and technology of thermoelectric materials and devices

“…Thus, the induced confinement effect can enhance the S value. The presence of unintentionally formed impurity content creates band bending effects at the surface of nanowires fixing the Fermi level above the minima of the conduction band [246]. Prabal Dev Bhuyan et al reported the effect of strain on the transport properties of PdX 2 (X = P, As) nanowires.…”

Phase Control Growth of InAs Nanowires by Using Bi Surfactant

“…Among III-V compound semiconductors, InAs has drawn special attention due to its small effective mass, high electron mobility and particularly its narrow direct bandgap. Furthermore, InAs NWs have enhanced thermoelectric performance, high Seebeck coefficient at room temperature, over that of bulk InAs, and can be further enhanced using diluted bismide [4][5][6]. Exploiting the use of InAs NWs for thermoelectric generators can efficiently convert heat energy into electrical energy and have possible applications as a coating material on glass/polymer windows for efficient energy harvesting from waste or ambient heat.…”