Thermoelectric material, and thermoelectric device and electronic device comprising the same

1. A thermoelectric material, comprising:

a thermoelectric element comprising a thermoelectric inorganic material represented by Chemical Formula 1; and

a conduction path in contact with an exterior surface of the thermoelectric inorganic material,

wherein the thermoelectric element is a nanoparticle-shaped thermoelectric element, a nanosheet-shaped thermoelectric element, or a combination thereof,

wherein the thermoelectric element comprises two or more adjacent thermoelectric elements,

wherein the conduction path is disposed between at least a portion of the two or more adjacent thermoelectric elements,

wherein the conduction path comprises a conductive material coating the exterior surface of the thermoelectric inorganic material and having an electrical conductivity of greater than or equal to about 1,000 Siemens per centimeter, and

wherein the conductive material comprises at least one of a metal oxide, a metal boride, a metal carbide, a chalcogenide, or a transition metal,

Bi x Sb (2-x) Te (3-y-z) Se y S z    Chemical Formula 1

wherein 0<x≤2, 0≤y≤3, 0≤z≤3, and 0≤y+z≤3.

2. The thermoelectric material of claim 1 , wherein the conduction path is in contact with at least a portion a surface of each of the two or more adjacent thermoelectric elements.

3. The thermoelectric material of claim 1 , wherein the conduction path is extended to separate the two or more adjacent thermoelectric elements by a distance.

4. The thermoelectric material of claim 3 , wherein the conduction path is extended to surround each surface of the two or more adjacent thermoelectric elements.

5. The thermoelectric material of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material is included in an amount of about 0.01 weight percent to about 30 weight percent based on a total weight of the thermoelectric material.

6. The thermoelectric material of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material has a greater electrical conductivity than the thermoelectric inorganic material.

7. The thermoelectric material of claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide comprises at least one of RuO 2 , MnO 2 , ReO 2 , VO 2 , OsO 2 , TaO 2 , IrO 2 , NbO 2 , WO 2 , GaO 2 , MoO 2 , InO 2 , CrO 2 , and RhO 2 .

8. The thermoelectric material of claim 1 , wherein the metal boride comprises at least one of Ta 3 B 4 , Nb 3 B 4 , TaB, NbB, V 3 B 4 , and VB.

9. The thermoelectric material of claim 1 , wherein the metal carbide comprises at least one of Dy 2 C and Ho 2 C.

10. The thermoelectric material of claim 1 , wherein the chalcogenide comprises at least one of AuTe 2 , PdTe 2 , PtTe 2 , YTe 3 , CuTe 2 , NiTe 2 , IrTe 2 , PrTe 3 , NdTe 3 , SmTe 3 , GdTe 3 , TbTe 3 , DyTe 3 , HoTe 3 , ErTe 3 , CeTe 3 , Bi 2 Te 3 , TiSe 2 , TiTe 2 , ZrTe 2 , HfTe 2 , TaSe 2 , TaTe 2 , NbS 2 , Hf 3 Te 2 , VSe 2 , VTe 2 , NbTe 2 , LaTe 2 , LaTe 3 , CeTe 2 , TiS 2 , NbS 2 , and TaS 2 .

11. The thermoelectric material of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal comprises at least one of Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, a noble metal, and a rare earth element.

12. The thermoelectric material of claim 11 , wherein the noble metal comprises at least one of Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, and Au.

13. The thermoelectric material of claim 11 , wherein the rare earth element comprises at least one of Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu.

14. A thermoelectric device, comprising:

a first electrode;

a second electrode; and

the thermoelectric material of claim 1 disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode.

15. The thermoelectric device of claim 14 , wherein the thermoelectric material comprises

a p-type thermoelectric material; and

an n-type thermoelectric material.

16. An electronic device, comprising the thermoelectric material of claim 1 .