Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties of WS2/Single-Walled Carbon Nanohorn Nanocomposites

Abstract

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 mu W/mK(2) 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.