Thermoelectric and mechanical properties of PEDOT:PSS-coated Ag2Se nanowire composite fabricated via digital light processing based 3D printing

In this study, we present a digital light processing (DLP)-based 3D printing method to produce thermoelectric (TE) composites. The UV-curing photoresins are composed of isobornyl acrylate (IBOA), diurethane dimethacrylate (DUDMA), and Phenylbis(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide (BAPO) is used as the photoinitiator. As TE fillers, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(4-styrenesulfonate)-coated (PEDOT:PSS-coated) silver(I) selenide (Ag2Se) nanowires (NWs) were used. UV curable photoresins with P-Ag2Se(2) fillers were then printed with a DLP-based 3D printer. The cured composite resin's TE and mechanical properties were measured. With increasing P-Ag2Se(2) fillers, the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of cured composite increases, with a highest ZT (∼0.02) at room temperature.