N-Type Silver Selenide Thermoelectric Cotton Thread for Antibacterial and Versatile Textile Electronics

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Textile Engineering
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Thermoelectric textiles are crucial for energy harvesting and temperature sensing.
• Current thermoelectric textiles often lack simultaneous antibacterial, high output, and sensing functionalities.
• Developing multifunctional thermoelectric materials for wearable electronics is a key research area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate n-type silver selenide (Ag₂Se) cotton threads with integrated antibacterial, high power output, and sensing capabilities.
• To create a thermoelectric textile using these advanced cotton threads.
• To explore the potential applications of these multifunctional textiles in wearable electronics.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of Ag-Ag₂Se segmented structures via a segmented selenization method.
• Development of a thermoelectric textile comprising 50 pairs of p-n legs.
• Characterization of the thermoelectric textile's power generation and sensing performance.

Main Results:

• The fabricated thermoelectric textile achieved a power density of 500 μW m⁻² at a 30 K temperature difference.
• The textile generated an output voltage of 24.7 mV when worn on the arm.
• The textile-based sensor demonstrated precise temperature detection (0.7 K) with a rapid response time (2.49 s).

Conclusions:

• The developed Ag₂Se cotton threads offer a facile and scalable route to multifunctional thermoelectric textiles.
• These textiles exhibit excellent antibacterial properties, high power generation, and advanced sensing capabilities.
• The findings pave the way for widespread applications in smart textiles, wearable electronics, and human-computer interfaces.