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Facile production of thermoelectric bismuth telluride thick films in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol

Facile production of thermoelectric bismuth telluride thick films in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol
Facile production of thermoelectric bismuth telluride thick films in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol
Bismuth telluride is currently the best performing thermoelectric material for room temperature operations in commercial thermoelectric devices. We report the reproducible and facile production of 600 micron thick bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) layers by low cost and room temperature pulsed and potentiostatic electrodeposition from a solution containing bismuth and tellurium dioxide in 2 M nitric acid onto nickel in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). This was added to the electrolyte to promote thick layer formation and its effect on the structure, morphology and composition of the electrodeposits was investigated by SEM and EDX. Well adherent, uniform, compact and stoichiometric n-type Bi2Te3 films with a high Seebeck coefficient of up to ?200 ?V K?1 and a high electrical conductivity of up to 400 S cm?1 resulting in a power factor of 1.6 × 10?3 W m?1 K?2 at film growth rates of 100 ?m h?1 for potentiostatic electrodeposition were obtained. The films also exhibited a well defined hexagonal structure as determined by XRD.
1463-9076
1-4
Lei, Chunhong
65d097cc-5757-4114-8a90-5bcbe24fd69f
Burton, Matthew
4a0d87d4-48b8-46bb-8b4d-3b3cf754563b
Nandhakumar, Iris
e9850fe5-1152-4df8-8a26-ed44b5564b04
Lei, Chunhong
65d097cc-5757-4114-8a90-5bcbe24fd69f
Burton, Matthew
4a0d87d4-48b8-46bb-8b4d-3b3cf754563b
Nandhakumar, Iris
e9850fe5-1152-4df8-8a26-ed44b5564b04

Lei, Chunhong, Burton, Matthew and Nandhakumar, Iris (2016) Facile production of thermoelectric bismuth telluride thick films in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 1-4. (doi:10.1039/C6CP02360F).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Bismuth telluride is currently the best performing thermoelectric material for room temperature operations in commercial thermoelectric devices. We report the reproducible and facile production of 600 micron thick bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) layers by low cost and room temperature pulsed and potentiostatic electrodeposition from a solution containing bismuth and tellurium dioxide in 2 M nitric acid onto nickel in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). This was added to the electrolyte to promote thick layer formation and its effect on the structure, morphology and composition of the electrodeposits was investigated by SEM and EDX. Well adherent, uniform, compact and stoichiometric n-type Bi2Te3 films with a high Seebeck coefficient of up to ?200 ?V K?1 and a high electrical conductivity of up to 400 S cm?1 resulting in a power factor of 1.6 × 10?3 W m?1 K?2 at film growth rates of 100 ?m h?1 for potentiostatic electrodeposition were obtained. The films also exhibited a well defined hexagonal structure as determined by XRD.

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Accepted/In Press date: 1 May 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 3 May 2016
Published date: 3 May 2016
Organisations: Chemistry

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Local EPrints ID: 394559
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/394559
ISSN: 1463-9076
PURE UUID: 79122ca5-907f-4759-be76-27e2858e25b1
ORCID for Iris Nandhakumar: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9668-9126

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Date deposited: 20 May 2016 11:13
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:34

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Contributors

Author: Chunhong Lei
Author: Matthew Burton

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