Co-enhanced electromagnetic shielding and thermoelectric performance in Bi2Te3 coated carbon cloth

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials play a crucial role in safeguarding the reliable operation of electronic devices against electromagnetic waves (EW). Nevertheless, electronic devices inherently generate heat, and thermoelectric (TE) can convert heat into electricity, making them attractive as clean energy sources. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for high-performance EMI shielding materials with excellent TE properties. These materials can effectively mitigate EW pollution while simultaneously harnessing heat as electricity. Carbon cloth (CC) as one type of functional textile, has been widely explored as a potential material for EMI shielding, but rarely reported for TE application, due to low Seebeck coefficient. In this study, a facile electrodeposition method was employed to coat Bi2Te3 layers onto the carbon fibers within carbon cloth. This innovative approach not only significantly improved the EMI shielding efficiency from 17.0 dB to an impressive 42.7 dB, but also imparted excellent TE performance to the film, as evidenced by a power factor of 42.4 μWm−1K−2. A four-legged TE module based on this film generates 35.5 nW of power at a temperature difference of 30 K, indicating its significant potential for powering low-consumption wearable electronics after integrating more TE legs. This study has paved the way for the development of a versatile material, that can mitigate EW pollution while simultaneously harnessing heat as electricity, by incorporating high TE performance inorganics into CC using a simple electrodeposition method.