A Solar Thermoelectric Conversion Material Based on Bi₂Te₃ and Carbon Nanotube Composites

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been proved to possess a very high light absorption coefficient in a very broad spectrum, showing very good potential for solar–thermal conversion. Bi 2 Te 3 is a typical thermoelectric material with high thermoelectric conversion efficiencies. In this study, we fabricated Bi 2 Te 3 and CNT composites, which combined the solar–heat conversion advantage of CNT sheets and the thermoelectric power generation advantage of Bi 2 Te 3 . Property measurements indicate that the simple composites are very promising in converting sunlight into electricity. The efficiency of converting solar energy to electricity reaches up to 1% in natural sunlight without using any kind of optical concentrator or thermal concentrator. This work may provide a simple and convenient approach to prepare solar-energy conversion devices for large-scale applications in the future.