Thermoelectric and mechanical properties of PLA/Bi0·5Sb1·5Te3 composite wires used for 3D printing

Thermoelectric (TE) composite wires with polylactic acid (PLA) as the matrix and Bi0·5Sb1·5Te3 (BST) as the filler are synthesized by extruding. The effects of silane coupling agent KH570, plasticizer ATBC, and conductive additive multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the composition, TE, and mechanical properties of the composite wires are systematically studied. It is necessary to add KH570 into the composite wires to make the actual BST loading the same as the designed value. The addition of ATBC greatly increases the flexibility of the composite wires and improves the wires' mechanical properties. When the BST loading increases from 35.8 to 87.5 wt%, the flexural modulus increases from 1684.0 to 4379.8 MPa and the flexural strength monotonically decreases from 50.1 to 13.4 MPa. In aspect of TE properties, the power factor PF of the composite wires increases with the increase of the BST loading, and the maximum Seebeck coefficient reaches 200 μV K−1. When MWCNTs are added into the composite wires, the electrical conductivity is significantly enhanced and thus the PF of the wires is raised. The highest PF of 11.3 μW m−1 K−2 is obtained for the wire containing 81.3 wt% BST and 4 wt% MWCNTs. A TE figure of merit ZT of 0.011 is obtained at room temperature. The excellent TE properties and satisfactory mechanical properties of the BST/PLA composite wires make them a promising candidate used for 3D printing of TE devices.