Enhancement of thermoelectric performance of PEDOT:PSS films by post-treatment with a superacid |
| |
| Authors: | Xizu Wang Aung Ko Ko Kyaw Cailiu Yin Fei Wang Qiang Zhu Tao Tang Phang In Yee Jianwei Xu |
| |
| Affiliation: | Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR, 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, #08-03, 138634 Singapore.; Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055 P. R. China ; College of Science, Guangxi University for Nationalities, Nanning 530006 China |
| |
| Abstract: | Several methods such as the addition of a polar solvent, an acid as well as various post-treatments have been used to improve the thermoelectric performance of conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) films. This paper reports a method using a superacid, trifluoromethanesulfonic acid, in methanol to treat PEDO:PSS films to improve their thermoelectric performance. Treatment of PEDOT:PSS films with this superacid in methanol leads to a significant increase in electrical conductivity from 0.7 to 2980 S cm−1 together with a moderate increase in Seebeck coefficient from 17.6 to 21.9 μV K−1, giving a power factor of 142 μW m−1 K−2, one of the highest values reported in the literature for conductive polymers. The figure of merit (ZT) value is estimated to be 0.19 under optimized conditions. The enhancement of thermoelectric performance, particularly the increase in both electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient, is due to the removal of the insulating component and polymer chain realignment giving in turn a denser packing of the conductive PEDOT polymer chains. This post-treatment method would offer an alternative way to improve the thermoelectric performance.Treatment of PEDOT:PSS films with a superacid results in remarkable improvement of thermoelectric performance with a power factor of 142 μW m−1 K−2. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
