Formulation and optimization of copper selenide/PANI hybrid screen printing ink for enhancing the power factor of flexible thermoelectric generator: A synergetic approach

• Published in: Ceramics international 2024-07, Vol.50 (14), p.25779-25791
• Main Authors: Nayak, Ramakrishna, Shetty, Prakasha, M, Selvakumar, Rao, Ashok, K V, Sriram, Wagle, Shivananda, Nayak, Sandeep, Kamath, Vinod, Shetty, Nakul, Saquib, Mohammad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cu3Se2; Hybrid ink; Polyaniline (PANI); Power density; Screen printing; Thermoelectricity
• ISSN: 0272-8842; 1873-3956
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2024.04.315

The stunning thermoelectric behavior of inorganic/organic hybrids and the lack of information on screen-printed flexible thermoelectric generators based on Cu3Se2 and Polyaniline for low-temperature applications have motivated this work. The synergic influence of various acid dopants, concentration, and annealing temperature of polyaniline on the power density of Cu3Se2/PANI ink-based flexible thermoelectric generator is explored. The presence of 1.5 wt% of H2SO4-PANI, annealed at 60 °C, decreased the bandgap and electrical resistance of Cu3Se2 by 11.96 % and 29.4 %, respectively. As a result, an increase of 46.06 % in the Seebeck coefficient and 242 % in the power output is achieved, which is many folds higher than the few reported works using novel materials. In addition, the Cu3Se2/H2SO4-PANI ink-based flexible thermoelectric generator with eight legs exhibited a maximum power output, power density, and power factor of 25.69 nW, 23.79 mW/m2, and 0.77 nW/m2K2 at ΔT = 100 °C, respectively under external load.