05. Micro- and Nano-Scale Transport, MEMS

We have developed a low-cost thermoelectric device using a printing method. The screen-printed thermoelectric film exhibits lower thermal conductivity than expected based on the effective thermal conductivity of composites. We used cobalt antimonide as the thermoelectric material, which has a high power factor, although its thermal conductivity is high at room temperature. We measured the thermoelectric properties, such as electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient, of the fabricated thin films. The measured Seebeck coefficients show values similar to those of the starting materials, but the electrical conductivities are lower than expected. The electrical conductivities increased with the annealing temperature of the printed films up to 500°C. The non-dimensional figure of merit was acceptable due to the low thermal conductivity. We will discuss the low thermal conductivity through the interfacial thermal resistance.