Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties of WS<sub>2</sub>/Single-Walled Carbon Nanohorn Nanocomposites
Ji Hoon Kim,
Seunggun Yu,
Sang Won Lee,
Seung-Yong Lee,
Keun Soo Kim,
Yoong Ahm Kim,
Cheol-Min Yang
Affiliations
Ji Hoon Kim
Institute of Advanced Composite Materials, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Wanju-gun, Jellabuk-do 55324, Korea
Seunggun Yu
Insulation Materials Research Center, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI), Changwon 51543, Korea
Sang Won Lee
Research Center for Carbon Convergence Materials, Korea Institute of Carbon Convergence Technology, Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do 54853, Korea
Seung-Yong Lee
Magok R&D Campus, LG Innotek, Seoul 07796, Korea
Keun Soo Kim
Department of Physics and Graphene Research Institute-Texas Photonics Center International Research Center (GRI-TPC IRC), Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Gwangin-gu, Seoul 05006, Korea
Yoong Ahm Kim
Department of Polymer Engineering, Graduate School, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
Cheol-Min Yang
Institute of Advanced Composite Materials, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Wanju-gun, Jellabuk-do 55324, Korea
Recently, two-dimensional tungsten disulfide (WS2) has attracted attention as a next generation thermoelectric material due to a favorable Seebeck coefficient. However, its thermoelectric efficiency still needs to be improved due to the intrinsically low electrical conductivity of WS2. In the present study, thermoelectric properties of WS2 hybridized with highly conductive single-walled carbon nanohorns (SWCNHs) were investigated. The WS2/SWCNH nanocomposites were fabricated by annealing the mixture of WS2 and SWCNHs using a high-frequency induction heated sintering (HFIHS) system. By adding SWCNHs to WS2, the nanocomposites exhibited increased electrical conductivity and a slightly decreased Seebeck coefficient with the content of SWCNHs. Hence, the maximum power factor of 128.41 μW/mK2 was achieved for WS2/SWCNHs with 0.1 wt.% SWCNHs at 780 K, resulting in a significantly improved thermoelectric figure of merit (zT) value of 0.027 compared to that of pristine WS2 with zT 0.017.
