Annealing effect on thermoelectric characteristics of Spin-coated Cu2Se nanoparticle thin films

Abstract

In this study, we fabricated a spin-coated Cu2Se nanoparticle (NP) thin film on a plastic substrate and investigated the effects of low-temperature annealing on its thermoelectric characteristics. After thermal annealing at 150 degrees C for 10 min in vacuum, the electrical conductivity of the Cu2Se NP thin film was dramatically enhanced from 1.05 x 10(2) to 2.09 x 10(4) S/m, whereas its thermal conductivity slightly increased from 0.11 to 0.50 W/m.K. The power factor and the figure of merit of the annealed Cu2Se NP thin films at room temperature in air was 25.6 mu W/m.K-2 and 1.54 x 10(-2), respectively.