Flexible Te/PEDOT:PSS thin films with high thermoelectric power factor and their application as flexible temperature sensors

Abstract

by hot pressing, which is nearly threefold enhancement compared to the values reported for the vacuum-filtered flexible Te/PEDOT:PSS thin films in the literature. The hot-pressed composite thin film shows high flexibility with the electrical conductivity remaining almost unchanged after 1000 bending cycles under a bending radius of 5 mm. Flexible temperature sensors were fabricated based on the hot-pressed Te/PEDOT:PSS thin film, which exhibited high sensitivity in detecting temperature stimuli. The developed temperature sensors were applied onto a two-finger flexible mechanical claw for identifying hot/cold objects in robotic grasping. This work demonstrates an effective approach to enhance the thermoelectric power factor of flexible Te nanostructures/polymer composites and their promising application in flexible thermal sensing.