Shape-Deformable\nThermoelectric Carbon Nanotube Doughs

Abstract

In\nthis study, shape-deformable thermoelectric p- and n-type doughs\nare fabricated by blending single-walled carbon nanotubes with excess\namounts of nonvolatile liquid surfactants for efficient energy harvesting\nfrom diverse heat sources. The shape-deformable thermoelectric doughs\nexhibit touch-healing properties and can be easily molded into arbitrary\nshapes by simple shaping methods, such as those commonly used for\nrubber play dough. We used cube-shaped thermoelectric doughs to fabricate\na vertical thermoelectric generator. Considering the shape-deformable\nproperties of the thermoelectric doughs, a contraction strain of ∼2%\nin the through-plane direction of the thermoelectric generator can\nbe applied for an effective application of Δ<i>T</i>. We show that the thermoelectric generator we built with eight p–n\npairs exhibits a maximum output power of 2.2 μW at a vertical\nΔ<i>T</i> of 15 K. Our results demonstrate the energy\nharvesting capability of thermoelectric generators with shape-deformable\np- and n-type doughs. Owing to the properties of this material, thermoelectric\ngenerators with various device geometries can be fabricated for energy\nharvesting from a diverse range of nonflat heat sources.