Thermoelectric and power generation of 2D structured pieces of graphene–nanodiamonds nanocomposite

Abstract

Recently, the ultrafine 2D structured nanocomposite of graphene (Gr)–nanodiamonds (NDs) produced by a microwave-assisted chemical route was found to have attractive structural properties. This new 2D structured nanocomposite may be employed for a wide spectrum of applications including thermoelectricity (TE) applications. It is well established that TE materials should be highly effective to be used for designing operative devices for powering or cooling small devices. To fulfill such an objective, the functional TE material should possess a high-power factor and low thermal conductivity. In this study, NDs were successfully integrated into Gr with a magnificent structural alteration to the Gr layers/sheets. This structural modification was found to impact the TE final outcome above and below room temperature (RT). The obtained results showed that at 215 K the power factor value was increased from 4 μW m⁻¹ K⁻² for the pure Gr to ∼20 μW m⁻¹ K⁻² for the Gr–NDs nanocomposite. At higher T, e.g. 365 K, these values slightly decreased, but with clear superiority for the Gr–NDs nanocomposite. The thermal conductivity of the Gr–NDs nanocomposite was significantly reduced to ∼12% of that of the pure Gr, which could reflect a significant enhancement in the value of the figure of merit by >45 times. Furthermore, the output power generated by a single small leg module made of the Gr–NDs nanocomposite was measured and found to be measurable. The obtained values are still relatively low for practical application, but this newly produced material has great potential to be further developed for TE applications.