Carbon‐Nanotube‐Based Thermoelectric Materials and Devices

Abstract

Conversion of waste heat to voltage has the potential to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of a number of critical energy sectors, such as the transportation and electricity-generation sectors, and manufacturing processes. Thermal energy is also an abundant low-flux source that can be harnessed to power portable/wearable electronic devices and critical components in remote off-grid locations. As such, a number of different inorganic and organic materials are being explored for their potential in thermoelectric-energy-harvesting devices. Carbon-based thermoelectric materials are particularly attractive due to their use of nontoxic, abundant source-materials, their amenability to high-throughput solution-phase fabrication routes, and the high specific energy (i.e., W g ) enabled by their low mass. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) represent a unique 1D carbon allotrope with structural, electrical, and thermal properties that enable efficient thermoelectric-energy conversion. Here, the progress made toward understanding the fundamental thermoelectric properties of SWCNTs, nanotube-based composites, and thermoelectric devices prepared from these materials is reviewed in detail. This progress illuminates the tremendous potential that carbon-nanotube-based materials and composites have for producing high-performance next-generation devices for thermoelectric-energy harvesting.

Carbon-Based Materials for Thermoelectrics

“…Similarly, strategies for reducing often come with the sacrifice of . The interdependence between the TE properties of carbon nanotube networks [5] is qualitatively shown in Figure 1 as an example.…”

“…Carbon nanotube, commonly referred to as CNT, is another common form of carbon allotropes that has been studied extensively for its TE properties [5,109]. In Figure 8, we summarize some notable values of the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity of CNTs measured recently [110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127].…”

“…We will discuss composites composed of CNT and other organic/inorganic materials in Section 4. The readers are also recommended to read the comprehensive review on CNT-based TE materials and devices by Blackburn et al [5] for more details.…”

Semiconducting Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes or Very Rigid Conjugated Polymers: A Comparison

“…These include field-effect transistors, [203,269] photovoltaic cells, [92,270] photodiodes, [271,272] electrochromic cells, [262,273] light-emitting diodes, [150,274] thermoelectrics, [275,276] and polaritonic devices. These include field-effect transistors, [203,269] photovoltaic cells, [92,270] photodiodes, [271,272] electrochromic cells, [262,273] light-emitting diodes, [150,274] thermoelectrics, [275,276] and polaritonic devices.…”

Solar Harvesting: a Unique Opportunity for Organic Thermoelectrics?

“…[16][17][18][19] Conjugated polymers have inherently low thermal conductivities but also low electrical conductivities. [16][17][18][19] Conjugated polymers have inherently low thermal conductivities but also low electrical conductivities.…”