Abstract
In this work, a polymer and ionic liquid (IL) hybrid with superior thermoelectric performance is prepared via a system design of the chemical composition, molar ratio of the constituent molecules and manipulating the structure in solution and dried films. The solution-casted hybrid film, consisting of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tricyanomethanide (EMIM:TCM), shows the highest power factor of 175 μW m−1 K−2 in the polymer hybrid prepared by a post-treatment-free method. With a set of complementary structure characterization methods, it is found that EMIM:TCM can induce the structure reorganization of PEDOT:PSS in solution from a core-shell model to a rod-like model, during which PEDOT partially separates from PSS that eases the conductive network formation. In addition, the oxidation level of PEDOT:PSS is reduced by adding EMIM:TCM. Based on which, the PEDOT:PSS/IL hybrid shows the best performance in optimizing the conductivity (1163 S cm−1) and Seebeck coefficient (38.8 μV K−1) simultaneously.
Highlights
Thermoelectric (TE) materials play an important role for the development of sustainable energy systems because it can generate electricity using the waste heat from factories, vehicles, mechanical devices, and even human bodies[1,2]
Our finding demonstrates that the TE performance of the PEDOT:PSS hybrid film could be further optimized via a system design of the material, shedding light on the large-scale production of post-treatment-free TE inks
The TE materials were prepared by mixing the PEDOT:PSS with ethyl-3methylimidazolium tricyanomethanide (EMIM):TCM (Fig. 1a) in solution and spin-coated into thin film
Summary
Thermoelectric (TE) materials play an important role for the development of sustainable energy systems because it can generate electricity using the waste heat from factories, vehicles, mechanical devices, and even human bodies[1,2]. Organic TE materials involving conductive polymer are under intensive research because of their unique features, including intrinsically low thermal conductivity, low cost, good mechanical flexibility, low or no toxicity, and good biocompatibility[3]. Their TE properties are highly tunable with rationally designed synthetic or fabrication methods, making them promising flexible TE materials for applications such as wearable and implantable electronics[4,5]. Pei’s25 and Chen’s26 groups have found that the property of conjugate polymer film can be significantly improved via tuning the solution supramolecular assembly, which was studied by small angle
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