Inorganic-organic hybridization: new strategy for flexible thermoelectric devices

Full text: The demand for flexible thermoelectric materials driven by the integration of wearable electronics has stimulated the development of various organic/inorganic hybrid composites from micro- to nano- scales. However, the organic/inorganic interfaces have to be carefully engineered to permit good adhesion and efficient charge transfer across the boundaries. On the other hand, liquid exfoliation has proven to be an effective approach to obtain large-scale 2D nanosheets in graphene, boron nitrides, layered perovskites and transition metal dichalcogenides. This also provides fresh insights into the hybridization of inorganics/organics at the sub-nanoscales. Here, we present a liquid-exfoliation-and-self-assembly method to produce TiS₂ / organics superlattice film, which can be either free-standing or deposited onto substrates. Charge transfer occurs when TiS₂ and organic molecules form intercalation complexes, which gives rise to a high electrical conductivity. Moreover, it is found that the presence of organic molecules in the matrix can greatly suppress the thermal conductivity and allow the material flexible. In addition, we have fabricated a prototype flexible thermoelectric module, and the performance of our module will also be presented. (author)