Improved electrical and thermoelectric properties of electrodeposited Bi1−xSbx nanowire networks by thermal annealing

Abstract

Arrays of thermoelectric nanowires embedded in organic films are attracting increasing interest to fabricate flexible thermoelectric devices with adjustable dimensions and complex shapes, useful for sustainable power sources of portable electronic devices and wireless sensor networks. Here, we report the electrochemical synthesis of interconnected bismuth-antimony (Bi_1−xSb_x) nanowires (with 0.06 < x < 0.15) within the branched cylindrical nanopores of polycarbonate membranes. The influence of temperature and magnetic field on the electrical and thermoelectric properties was studied by considering electric and thermal currents flowing in the plane of the films. We show that short annealing times with temperature up to 250 °C of the nanowire-based nanocomposite lead to a large increase in the thermoelectric power, reaching values up to −80 μV K⁻¹ at room temperature, which are comparable to those of bulk Bi-Sb alloys. In addition, we report Hall effect measurements on crossed nanowires, made possible for the first time by the remarkable electrical connectivity of the nanowire network. These measurements, combined with variations in temperature and under the magnetic field of the electrical resistance, indicate that the interconnected networks of Bi_1−xSb_x nanowires after thermal annealing behave like n-type, narrow band gap semiconductors. Overall, the electrical and thermoelectric properties near the ambient temperature of the heat-treated Bi_1−xSb_x nanowire networks are similar to those of bulk polycrystalline Bi-Sb alloys, which are well-known thermoelectric materials exhibiting optimal performance near and below room temperature.