Bulk Interpenetration Network of Thermoelectric Polymer in Insulating Supporting Matrix

摘要

As a member of organic electronics, polymer thermoelectric device is attracting wide interests due to its flexibility, low-cost and solution processability. Although the comprehensive thermoelectric properties of conjugated-polymers are still lower than those of well-developed inorganic materials, their merits are helpful in some specific applications, e.g., flexible electronics and all-polymer artificial skins. Thermoelectric materials are usually evaluated in terms of figure of merit ZT, which is defined as ZT =S~2σT/k, where S is Seebeck coefficient, σ is electrical conductivity, T is absolute temperature and k is thermal conductivity. Therefore, increasing S or σ, or decreasing k can lead to higher ZT. The ZT of commercial inorganic thermoelectric materials is around 1. Recently, ZT higher than 0.1 has been reported for conjugated polymer oxidized by appropriate dopant. However, increment of electrical conductivity, which usually requires higher doping level and less grain boundary, typically leads to lower Seebeck coefficient and higher thermal conductivity. Some organic/inorganic nanocomposites have shown improved thermoelectric properties upon comprehensive tuning S, σ and k.