IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-024-55689-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Helical dislocation-driven plasticity and flexible high-performance thermoelectric generator in α-Mg3Bi2 single crystals

Author

Listed:
  • Mingyuan Hu

    (Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology
    Southern University of Science and Technology)

  • Jianmin Yang

    (Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology)

  • Yan Wang

    (Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology)

  • Junchao Xia

    (Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology
    University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade)

  • Quan Gan

    (Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology)

  • Shuhuan Yang

    (Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology
    University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade)

  • Juping Xu

    (Spallation Neutron Source Science Center)

  • Shulin Liu

    (Spallation Neutron Source Science Center)

  • Wen Yin

    (Spallation Neutron Source Science Center)

  • Baohai Jia

    (Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology)

  • Lin Xie

    (Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology)

  • Haifeng Li

    (University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade)

  • Jiaqing He

    (Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology
    Southern University of Science and Technology)

Abstract

Inorganic plastic semiconductors play a crucial role in the realm of flexible electronics. In this study, we present a cost-effective plastic thermoelectric semimetal magnesium bismuthide (α-Mg3Bi2), exhibiting remarkable thermoelectric performance. Bulk single-crystalline α-Mg3Bi2 exhibits considerable plastic deformation at room temperature, allowing for the fabrication of intricate shapes such as the letters “SUSTECH” and a flexible chain. Transmission electron microscopy, time-of-flight neutron diffraction, and chemical bonding theoretic analyses elucidate that the plasticity of α-Mg3Bi2 stems from the helical dislocation-driven interlayer slip, small-sized Mg atoms induced weak interlayer Mg-Bi bonds, and low modulus of intralayer Mg2Bi22- networks. Moreover, we achieve a power factor value of up to 26.2 µW cm-1 K-2 along the c-axis at room temperature in an n-type α-Mg3Bi2 crystal. Our out-of-plane flexible thermoelectric generator exhibit a normalized power density of 8.1 μW cm-2 K-2 with a temperature difference of 7.3 K. This high-performance plastic thermoelectric semimetal promises to advance the field of flexible and deformable electronics.

Suggested Citation

  • Mingyuan Hu & Jianmin Yang & Yan Wang & Junchao Xia & Quan Gan & Shuhuan Yang & Juping Xu & Shulin Liu & Wen Yin & Baohai Jia & Lin Xie & Haifeng Li & Jiaqing He, 2025. "Helical dislocation-driven plasticity and flexible high-performance thermoelectric generator in α-Mg3Bi2 single crystals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55689-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55689-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-55689-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-55689-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jing-Wei Li & Zhijia Han & Jincheng Yu & Hua-Lu Zhuang & Haihua Hu & Bin Su & Hezhang Li & Yilin Jiang & Lu Chen & Weishu Liu & Qiang Zheng & Jing-Feng Li, 2023. "Wide-temperature-range thermoelectric n-type Mg3(Sb,Bi)2 with high average and peak zT values," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Wang, Yancheng & Shi, Yaoguang & Mei, Deqing & Chen, Zichen, 2018. "Wearable thermoelectric generator to harvest body heat for powering a miniaturized accelerometer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 690-698.
    3. Airan Li & Yuechu Wang & Yuzheng Li & Xinlei Yang & Pengfei Nan & Kai Liu & Binghui Ge & Chenguang Fu & Tiejun Zhu, 2024. "High performance magnesium-based plastic semiconductors for flexible thermoelectrics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Jiasheng Liang & Jin Liu & Pengfei Qiu & Chen Ming & Zhengyang Zhou & Zhiqiang Gao & Kunpeng Zhao & Lidong Chen & Xun Shi, 2023. "Modulation of the morphotropic phase boundary for high-performance ductile thermoelectric materials," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Yijie Liu & Xiaodong Wang & Shuaihang Hou & Zuoxu Wu & Jian Wang & Jun Mao & Qian Zhang & Zhiguo Liu & Feng Cao, 2023. "Scalable-produced 3D elastic thermoelectric network for body heat harvesting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    6. Zhiqiang Gao & Tian-Ran Wei & Tingting Deng & Pengfei Qiu & Wei Xu & Yuecun Wang & Lidong Chen & Xun Shi, 2022. "High-throughput screening of 2D van der Waals crystals with plastic deformability," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li Yang & Xue Chen & Ankan Dutta & Hui Zhang & Zihan Wang & Mingyang Xin & Shuaijie Du & Guizhi Xu & Huanyu Cheng, 2025. "Thermoelectric porous laser-induced graphene-based strain-temperature decoupling and self-powered sensing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Zhou, Xu & Wang, Kangda & Li, Siyu & Wang, Yadong & Sun, Daoyu & Wang, Longlong & He, Zhizhu & Tang, Wei & Liu, Huicong & Jin, Xiaoping & Li, Zhen, 2024. "An ultra-compact lightweight electromagnetic generator enhanced with Halbach magnet array and printed triphase windings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 353(PA).
    3. Sijing Zhu & Zheng Fan & Baoquan Feng & Runze Shi & Zexin Jiang & Ying Peng & Jie Gao & Lei Miao & Kunihito Koumoto, 2022. "Review on Wearable Thermoelectric Generators: From Devices to Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-27, May.
    4. Haihua Hu & Xiaolong Feng & Yu Pan & Vicky Hasse & Honghui Wang & Bin He & Claudia Felser, 2025. "Multipocket synergy towards high thermoelectric performance in topological semimetal TaAs2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Fan, Zeng & Zhang, Yaoyun & Pan, Lujun & Ouyang, Jianyong & Zhang, Qian, 2021. "Recent developments in flexible thermoelectrics: From materials to devices," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    6. Wei, Haoxiang & Zhang, Jian & Han, Yang & Xu, Dongyan, 2022. "Soft-covered wearable thermoelectric device for body heat harvesting and on-skin cooling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    7. Airan Li & Yuechu Wang & Yuzheng Li & Xinlei Yang & Pengfei Nan & Kai Liu & Binghui Ge & Chenguang Fu & Tiejun Zhu, 2024. "High performance magnesium-based plastic semiconductors for flexible thermoelectrics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    8. Liu, Kai & Tang, Xiaobin & Liu, Yunpeng & Xu, Zhiheng & Yuan, Zicheng & Zhang, Zhengrong, 2020. "Enhancing the performance of fully-scaled structure-adjustable 3D thermoelectric devices based on cold–press sintering and molding," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    9. Mai, Van-Phung & Yang, Ruey-Jen, 2020. "Boosting power generation from salinity gradient on high-density nanoporous membrane using thermal effect," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    10. Chen, Jiangfan & Fang, Zheng & Azam, Ali & Wu, Xiaoping & Zhang, Zutao & Lu, Linhai & Li, Dongyang, 2023. "An energy self-circulation system based on the wearable thermoelectric harvester for ART driver monitoring," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PA).
    11. Min Liu & Xinyue Zhang & Shuxian Zhang & Yanzhong Pei, 2024. "Ag2Se as a tougher alternative to n-type Bi2Te3 thermoelectrics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-6, December.
    12. Xianliang Liu & Haodong Chen & Jianyi Huang & Kaiming Qiao & Ziyuan Yu & Longlong Xie & Raju V. Ramanujan & Fengxia Hu & Ke Chu & Yi Long & Hu Zhang, 2023. "High-performance thermomagnetic generator controlled by a magnetocaloric switch," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    13. Watson, Thomas C. & Vincent, Joshua N. & Lee, Hohyun, 2019. "Effect of DC-DC voltage step-up converter impedance on thermoelectric energy harvester system design strategy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 898-907.
    14. Chetty, Raju & Nagase, Kazuo & Aihara, Makoto & Jood, Priyanka & Takazawa, Hiroyuki & Ohta, Michihiro & Yamamoto, Atsushi, 2020. "Mechanically durable thermoelectric power generation module made of Ni-based alloy as a reference for reliable testing," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    15. Yuan, Jinfeng & Zhu, Rong, 2020. "A fully self-powered wearable monitoring system with systematically optimized flexible thermoelectric generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    16. Liu, Hai-Bo & Wang, Shuo-Lin & Yang, Yan-Ru & Chen, Wei-Hsin & Wang, Xiao-Dong, 2020. "Theoretical analysis of performance of variable cross-section thermoelectric generators: Effects of shape factor and thermal boundary conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    17. Wei Sun & Pengfei Wen & Sijie Zhu & Pengcheng Zhai, 2024. "Geometrical Optimization of Segmented Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs) Based on Neural Network and Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-13, April.
    18. Huang, Xiao-Yan & Zhou, Ze-Yu & Shu, Zheng-Yu & Cai, Yang & Lv, You & Wang, Wei-Wei & Zhao, Fu-Yun, 2024. "A phase change material based annular thermoelectric energy harvester from ambient temperature fluctuations: Transient modeling and critical characteristics," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    19. Yuan, Zicheng & Tang, Xiaobin & Xu, Zhiheng & Li, Junqin & Chen, Wang & Liu, Kai & Liu, Yunpeng & Zhang, Zhengrong, 2018. "Screen-printed radial structure micro radioisotope thermoelectric generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 746-754.
    20. Chen, Wei-Hsin & Lin, Yi-Xian & Wang, Xiao-Dong & Lin, Yu-Li, 2019. "A comprehensive analysis of the performance of thermoelectric generators with constant and variable properties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 11-24.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55689-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.