Simultaneous Enhancement of the Electrical Conductivity and Seebeck Coefficient of PEDOT-block-PEG/SWCNTs Nanocomposites

Abstract

In this study, the thermoelectric (TE) performance of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEDOT-block-PEG), one of the most important poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) derivatives, was studied. To improve its TE performance, different mass fractions of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were incorporated by physical mixing. Blending with SWCNTs resulted in simultaneous enhancement of the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient of the PEDOT-block-PEG/SWCNTs nanocomposites. At 300 K, the maximum electrical conductivity was increased from 0.51 to 78.6 S/cm, and the Seebeck coefficient was increased from 5.1 to 46.3 μV/K. The thermal conductivity of the composite films was low (0.24–0.34 W/m/K). The maximum ZT of PEDOT-block-PEG/SWCNTs nanocomposites was 1.24 × 10−2 when the SWCNTs content was 66.7 wt.%. This study suggests that constructing PEDOT-block-PEG/SWCNTs nanocomposites might be an effective way of improving the TE properties of PEDOT-block-PEG.