Advances in roll-to-roll patterned thin-film thermoelectrics

In the Nature Communications paper 'Cu or Ag-containing Bi-Sb-Te for in-line roll-to-roll patterned thin-film thermoelectrics', the authors* explain how the Selective Metallisation Technique (SMT) has promise for roll-to-roll (R2R) in-line patterning of flexible electronics using evaporated metals.

This paper details how the authors were able to successfully demonstrate the integration of SMT with evaporation for R2R manufacture of metal patterns with nanometer thickness and micrometer resolution.  

Large-scale manufacturing is demonstrated through R2R processing of a 0.8m wide polymer web at 25 m/min, which achieved high-throughput production of functional thin-film patterns with nanometer thickness.  The room-temperature-deposited material system exhibited significantly enhanced thermoelectric performance and facilitated an n-type-to-p-type transition in the Cu- or Ag-containing Bi-Sb-Te, which could be effectively removed with a few seconds of plasma exposure, and the validated thermoelectric devices were validated in wearable applications utilising a coiled-up wristband design.

*Led by this department, the team were composed of Oxford Materials, Imperial College and Plasma Quest Limited