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Electrochemical route to thermoelectric nanowires via organic electrolytes
Author(s) -
Klammer Jana,
Bachmann Julien,
Töllner William,
Bourgault Daniel,
Cag Laurent,
Gösele Ulrich,
Nielsch Kornelius
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.200945549
Subject(s) - nanowire , materials science , thermoelectric effect , chalcogenide , electrochemistry , electrolyte , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , porosity , homogeneous , transmission electron microscopy , thermoelectric materials , seebeck coefficient , membrane , thermal conductivity , optoelectronics , electrode , chemistry , composite material , physics , engineering , thermodynamics , biochemistry
Abstract Thermoelectric nanowires have been predicted to have superior properties compared to their bulk counterparts due to quantum confinement. We present the synthesis of chalcogenide nanowires A 2 B 3 (A = Bi, Sb; B = S, Se, Te) and PbB (B = S, Se, Te) by electrochemical deposition into highly ordered porous Al 2 O 3 membranes. The narrow pore size distribution of the templates reproducibly yields very homogeneous nanowires upon electrodeposition into the pores. The thermoelectric nanowires presented here were deposited from nonaqueous electrolytes based on Bi 3+ and S (and their heavier counterparts). The transmission electron microscopy investigations on released nanowires show the homogeneous growth behavior of the material. We will present data on the Seebeck coefficients of nanowire ensembles of various IV–VI and V–VI materials embedded in the porous template.