Journal of Inorganic Materials ›› 2022, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (12): 1302-1310.DOI: 10.15541/jim20220107

• RESEARCH ARTICLE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Annealing Conditions on Thermoelectric Properties of Magnetron Sputtered MgO-Ag3Sb-Sb2O4 Flexible Films

LIU Dan1(), ZHAO Yaxin1, GUO Rui1, LIU Yantao2, ZHANG Zhidong1, ZHANG Zengxing1, XUE Chenyang1   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Instrumentation Science & Dynamic Measurement, Ministry of Education, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
    2. Department of Electronic Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
  • Received:2022-03-02 Revised:2022-04-17 Published:2022-12-20 Online:2022-04-26
  • About author:LIU Dan (1988-), male, PhD, associate professor. E-mail: liudan235@nuc.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(62001428);National Key Research and Development Program of China(2019YFB2004800);Scientific and Technological Innovation Programs of Higher Education Institutions in Shanxi(2020L0309)

Abstract:

MgAgSb is a promising room temperature thermoelectric material with relatively abundant element reserves for the construction of high-performance wearable thermoelectric batteries. In this study, Mg-Ag-Sb thin films were prepared on polyimide (PI) substrates by using magnetron sputtering, and the effects of annealing conditions on their thermoelectric properties were systematically investigated. The results showed that the MgAgSb flexible thermoelectric film composed of MgO, Ag3Sb and Sb2O4 multiphases instead of pure phase, in which Ag3Sb played main role of thermoelectric function. Different annealing atmospheres significantly improved the thermoelectric properties of MgO-Ag3Sb-Sb2O4 (Mg-Ag-Sb) flexible thin films, among which the vacuum treatment appeared the best performance. Under vacuum conditions, the thermoelectric properties firstly increased and then decreased with the annealing temperature increasing, and the best thermoelectric property was achieved when the annealing temperature was 573 K, with a power factor of 74.16 μW∙m-1∙K-2 near room temperature. Moreover, the film exhibited good flexibility, and the conductivity changed by only 14% after 900 bending times. This study provides a reference for the preparation of MgAgSb flexible thermoelectric films and their wearable applications.

Key words: MgAgSb, annealing treatment, thermoelectric property, flexible film

CLC Number: