High-performance Ag2Se film by a template method for flexible thermoelectric generator

Herein, we developed a facile method to prepare a high-performance Ag2Se thermoelectric (TE) film. First, Ag2Se powders were synthesized by the reaction between Ag nanowires (NWs) with Se precursor at room temperature (RT), then vacuum filtered on a nylon membrane, and finally hot pressed. The film exhibits a high power factor of 1636.9 μW m−1 K−2 at RT via optimizing the Ag/Se ratio. The film exhibits good flexibility because of the nylon substrate and the nylon well combined with the Ag2Se film. Moreover, a flexible TE generator (f-TEG) consisting of six optimized film legs was assembled, and it generates a maximum output power of ∼3.42 μW (corresponding power density of ∼13.5 W m−2) under a temperature gradient of 31.4 K. This work paves a simple, fast, and feasible route to prepare high-performance flexible Ag2Se film.