Direct Current Treatment Tuning Crystallinity Leading to High-Performance p-Type Sb₂Te₃ Flexible Thin Films

With the development of wearable electronics, inorganicflexiblethin films (f-TFs) with high thermoelectric performance have attractedincreasing research interest. To further enhance the thermoelectricperformance of p-type inorganic Sb2Te3-basedf-TFs, we employed direct current treatment to tune the crystallinityby rationally tuning the direct current treatment time. Correspondingly,a high electrical conductivity of >845 S cm(-1) anda moderate Seebeck coefficient of >110 & mu;V K-1 within the entire measurement temperature range have been simultaneouslyachieved. Consequently, a high power factor of 12.84 & mu;W cm(-1) K-2 at 423 K has been realizedin the as-prepared p-type Sb2Te3 f-TF treatedby a direct current of 5 A for 4 min. A flexible thermoelectric devicehas been further assembled to demonstrate the power-generating capacity.This study indicates that the direct current treatment is an effectivemethod to improve the thermoelectric performance of Sb2Te3 f-TFs.