A Rapid Methodology to Obtain Silver Selenide thin Films with Highly Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Solid State Physics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Metal chalcogenides are key materials for thermoelectric applications.
• Silver selenide (Ag2Se) shows promise as an n-type semiconductor with excellent room-temperature thermoelectric properties.
• Conventional synthesis methods for Ag2Se are often slow, expensive, and require high vacuum.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a facile, rapid, and scalable synthesis method for β-Ag2Se thin films.
• To investigate the effect of thickness and annealing on the thermoelectric performance of electrodeposited β-Ag2Se.
• To demonstrate the potential of electrodeposition for producing high-performance thermoelectric materials.

Main Methods:

• Electrodeposition technique used for synthesizing β-Ag2Se thin films with controlled thickness.
• Characterization of film properties and thermoelectric performance.
• Annealing treatment applied to optimize the thermoelectric properties.

Main Results:

• Successfully synthesized β-Ag2Se thin films with controlled thickness via electrodeposition.
• As-deposited 740 nm β-Ag2Se film achieved a power factor (PF) of 5.59 µW cm⁻¹ K².
• Annealed 880 nm β-Ag2Se film exhibited a significantly higher PF of 11.69 µW cm⁻¹ K² at 210 °C.
• Demonstrated rapid preparation of high-purity β-Ag2Se with superior thermoelectric performance.

Conclusions:

• Electrodeposition is a viable, cost-effective, and scalable method for producing β-Ag2Se thin films.
• Optimized electrodeposition and annealing processes lead to enhanced thermoelectric performance.
• This work presents a promising route for developing efficient thermoelectric devices based on silver selenide.