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Optimization of the thermoelectric figure of merit in the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)

Nature Materials volume 10, pages 429–433 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) transform a heat flow into electricity. Thermoelectric materials are being investigated for electricity production from waste heat (co-generation) and natural heat sources. For temperatures below 200 °C, the best commercially available inorganic semiconductors are bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3)-based alloys, which possess a figure of merit ZT close to one1. Most of the recently discovered thermoelectric materials with ZT>2 exhibit one common property, namely their low lattice thermal conductivities2,3. Nevertheless, a high ZT value is not enough to create a viable technology platform for energy harvesting. To generate electricity from large volumes of warm fluids, heat exchangers must be functionalized with TEGs. This requires thermoelectric materials that are readily synthesized, air stable, environmentally friendly and solution processable to create patterns on large areas. Here we show that conducting polymers might be capable of meeting these demands. The accurate control of the oxidation level in poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) combined with its low intrinsic thermal conductivity (λ=0.37 W m−1 K−1) yields a ZT=0.25 at room temperature that approaches the values required for efficient devices.

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Figure 1: Chemical structure and photoelectron spectroscopy fingerprint.
Figure 2: Thermoelectric properties versus oxidation level.
Figure 3: Thermal conductivity and thermoelectric figure of merit.
Figure 4: Manufacturing and power generation of the organic thermoelectric module.

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Change history

  • 09 May 2011

    In the version of this Letter originally published online, the y-axis values in Fig. 2c were incorrect by 10-2. Hence in the discussion of this figure in the text, the maximum power output after 10 min TDAE exposure for a load resistance of 39 Ω should have read 1.13 nW. Both these errors have now been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Swedish Energy Agency, the Swedish Government (Advanced Functional Materials) and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation for financial funding for this project. M.F. and S.B. thank the Swedish Research Council for financial support. M.B. wishes to thank the Önnesjö Foundation for financial support. We also want to thank D. Emin and D. Cahill for fruitful scientific discussions and B. Sklepkovych for comments regarding an earlier draft.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Science and Technology,Campus Norrköping, Organic Electronics, Linköping University, SE-60174 Norrköping, Sweden

    Olga Bubnova, Zia Ullah Khan, Abdellah Malti, Magnus Berggren & Xavier Crispin

  2. Department of Physics and Measurement Technology, Surface Physics and Chemistry, Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden

    Slawomir Braun & Mats Fahlman

Authors
  1. Olga Bubnova
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  7. Xavier Crispin
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Contributions

X.C. and A.M. initiated the study. O.B. performed the conductivity and thermopower measurements and fabricated the thermogenerators. Z.U.K. developed the 3ω -technique to measure the thermal conductivity. S.B. and M.F. performed the photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. O.B., Z.U.K. and X.C. prepared the manuscript. X.C. and M.B. coordinated the project. All authors revised and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xavier Crispin.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Bubnova, O., Khan, Z., Malti, A. et al. Optimization of the thermoelectric figure of merit in the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene). Nature Mater 10, 429–433 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3012

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