Power factor measurements of bismuth telluride nanowires grown by pulsed electrodeposition

The power factors of bismuth telluride nanowires were determined. Large‐scale thermopower measurements of the nanowire arrays were performed under a constant thermal gradient. The local electrical resistance of individual nanowires inside alumina matrix was investigated at ambient conditions by a conductive tip attached to an atomic force microscope (AFM). In order to prevent oxide formation on the nanowire tips, an Au electrode segment was electrochemically deposited onto the nanowires. The optimized structural properties led to a significant improvement of the electrical conductivity of the nanowires from 0.053 to 0.169 × 106 (Ω m)–1 and their Seebeck coefficient also increased moderately from 46.6 μV/K to 55 μV/K. Based on our measurement approach, the determined maximum power factor is 476.3 μW/mK2, which is one of the highest reported values for electrodeposited Bi2Te3 nanowires. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

[1]  M. Aono,et al.  Electrical properties of individual ZnO nanowires , 2009, Nanotechnology.

[2]  U. Gösele,et al.  Tuning the crystallinity of thermoelectric Bi2Te3 nanowire arrays grown by pulsed electrodeposition , 2008, Nanotechnology.

[3]  V. Kantser,et al.  Thermoelectric properties of bismuth telluride nanowires in the constant relaxation-time approximation , 2008 .

[4]  M. Dresselhaus,et al.  High-Thermoelectric Performance of Nanostructured Bismuth Antimony Telluride Bulk Alloys , 2008, Science.

[5]  Song Jin,et al.  Chemical synthesis and magnetotransport of magnetic semiconducting Fe1-xCoxSi alloy nanowires. , 2008, Nano letters.

[6]  R. Reifenberger,et al.  Electrical properties of individual gold nanowires arrayed in a porous anodic alumina template , 2007 .

[7]  Q. Li,et al.  Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) nanowires: synthesis by cyclic electrodeposition/stripping, thinning by electrooxidation, and electrical power generation. , 2006, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[8]  Y. Mitani,et al.  Structural and electrical evolution of gate dielectric breakdown observed by conductive atomic force microscopy , 2006 .

[9]  Li Shi,et al.  Thermoelectric properties of individual electrodeposited bismuth telluride nanowires , 2005 .

[10]  Q. Xin,et al.  Preparation of supported PtRu/C electrocatalyst for direct methanol fuel cells , 2005 .

[11]  George S. Nolas,et al.  Thermoelectrics: Basic Principles and New Materials Developments , 2001 .

[12]  V. Kulbachinskii,et al.  The time-dependent process of oxidation of the surface of Bi2Te3 studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy , 2000 .

[13]  H. Koyama,et al.  I–V characteristics of modified silicon surface using scanning probe microscopy , 1997 .

[14]  H. Scherrer,et al.  Thermal properties of high quality single crystals of bismuth telluride—Part I: Experimental characterization , 1988 .