Stable, Self-Adhesive, and High-Performance Graphene-Oxide-Modified Flexible Ionogel Thermoelectric Films

Abstract

Ionic thermoelectric materials have attracted increasing attention because of their high flexibility and high Seebeck coefficient. However, their insufficient thermoelectric performance and long-standing processing limit their practical applications. To achieve exotic ionic thermoelectric materials, here, a graphene oxide (GO) modified acrylamide ionogel is designed with high thermoelectric performance and flexibility. Detailed structural characterizations confirm that the uniform dispersion of GO particles in the ionogel structure enables a power factor of 753.0 µW m−1 K−2 and a promising ZT value of 0.19. Additionally, the as-prepared ionic thermoelectric thin film shows excellent flexibility, stretchability, and self-adhesiveness. An integrated device, assembled by the as-prepared ionogel films, can generate an optimal output power density of 1.32 mW cm−2 with a temperature difference of 20 K, indicating great potential for wearable electronics. This work provides insight for searching long-term, high-performance ionic thermoelectric materials.