Enhanced thermoelectric power factor of Se-doped SnS nanostructures for flexible thermoelectric applications

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics Vol. 34; no. 4; p. 255
• Main Authors: Selestina, A., Sudha, L., Vijay, V., Karunagaran, N., Navaneethan, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-02-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Body temperature; Carbon; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Crystal structure; Electrical resistivity; Electricity; Energy harvesting; Heat conductivity; Human body; Hydrothermal crystal growth; Materials Science; Morphology; Nanotechnology; Optical and Electronic Materials; P-type semiconductors; Power factor; Power supply; Seebeck effect; Selenium; Thermal conductivity; Thermoelectricity
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-022-09489-8

Flexible thermoelectric devices show high potential in generating electricity which is noiseless, perennial and widespread on human body temperature energy-harvesting applications. Tin Sulphide (SnS) is a
p
-type semiconducting material which gets a huge attention because of its superior thermoelectric properties such as low thermal conductivity and high Seebeck coefficient. In this work, we have synthesized SnS and SnSSe
x
(
x
 = 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1) samples via hydrothermal method and coated on carbon fabric through drop casting method for flexible thermoelectric (TE) application. XRD results confirm the orthorhombic crystal structure and formation of SnS and Se-doped SnS. HRSEM and HRTEM show the distribution of the elements and morphology of the SnS and Se-doped SnS, respectively. Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity are measured in the temperature range of 303–373 K. The maximum electrical conductivity of 85.5 S/cm is obtained for SnSSe
0.075
at 373 K and the highest power factor of 1.56 μW/mK
2
is achieved for SnSSe
0.1
at 373 K.