Among the several flexible thermoelectric modules in existence, sintered Bi-Te-based modules represent a viable option because of their high output power density and flexibility, which enables the use of arbitrary heat sources. We have fabricated Bi-Te-based modules with a large-scalable fabrication process and improved their output performance. The reduction in the interconnection resistance, using thick electrodes of the flexible printed circuit, significantly improves the module's output power to 87 mW/cm2 at ΔT = 70 K, which is 1.3-fold higher than a previous prototype module. Furthermore, the establishment of the fabrication for the top electrodes by using the surface mount technology makes it possible to realize a high-throughput manufacturing of the module. Our durability tests reveal that there is no significant change in the internal resistance of the module during 10000 cycles of mechanical bending test and 1000 cycles of thermal stress test.
@article{arxiv.2004.03068,
title = {Large-scalable fabrication of improved Bi-Te-based flexible thermoelectric modules using a semiconductor manufacturing process},
author = {Kenjiro Okawa and Yasutaka Amagai and Hiroyuki Fujiki and Nobu-Hisa Kaneko and Nobuo Tsuchimine and Hiroshi Kaneko and Yuzo Tasaki and Keiichi Ohata and Michio Okajima and Shutaro Nambu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.03068},
year = {2020}
}