Achieving Metal-Like Processability in Ag2Te1−xSx (0.3 ≤ x ≤ 0.6) Inorganic Semiconductors for Low-Cost Fabrication

• • Ag2Te1−xSx (0.3 ≤ x ≤ 0.6) achieves metal-like processability, enabling room-temperature plastic deformation without fracture, which reduces fabrication costs by eliminating high-temperature sintering steps typical of brittle inorganic semiconductors. • • The compositional window 0.3 ≤ x ≤ 0.6 optimizes the trade-off between ductility and thermoelectric performance, with potential zT values comparable to state-of-the-art flexible thermoelectrics (e.g., Bi2Te3-based alloys), but with superior mechanical robustness. • • The material system builds on the exceptional plasticity of Ag2S and Ag2Te, where prior studies reported room-temperature ductility in Ag2S (Nat Mater 2018) and extraordinary plasticity in InSe (Science 2020), but Ag2Te1−xSx extends this to a tunable solid solution for scalable processing. • • Industrial impact: The low-cost fabrication of flexible thermoelectric devices for waste heat recovery and wearable electronics becomes feasible, with the potential to replace brittle Bi2Te3 in applications requiring mechanical flexibility, as demonstrated by the high performance of Mg-based plastic semiconductors (Nat Commun 2024).