Organic Semiconductors for Thermoelectric Applications

Scholdt, Manfred; Do, Hung; Lang, Johannes; Gall, André; Colsmann, Alexander; Lemmer, Uli; Koenig, Jan D.; Winkler, Markus; Boettner, Harald

doi:10.1007/s11664-010-1271-8

Cited by 115 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The use of DMSO has been further explored and the effect on conductivity and figure of merit by changing concentrations of the solvent have been investigated. 44 Conductivities were found to peak at approximately 570 S.cm −1 with 5 vol.% of DMSO and a ZT of 9.2 × 10 −3 was reported. A conductivity of 3,065 S cm −1 has been observed in a 24 nm thick PEDOT:PSS film when treated with 1 M sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) at 160…”

Section: P-type Organic Thermoelectric Materialsmentioning

confidence: 92%

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Review—Organic Materials for Thermoelectric Energy Generation

Cowen

Atoyo

Carnie

et al. 2017

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

129

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Organic semiconductor materials have been promising alternatives to their inorganic counterparts in several electronic applications such as solar cells, light emitting diodes, field effect transistors as well as thermoelectric generators. Their low cost, light weight and flexibility make them appealing in future applications such as foldable electronics and wearable circuits using printing techniques. In this report, we present a mini-review on the organic materials that have been used for thermoelectric energy generation. The reduction in the effects of climate change, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, has recently been given increased emphasis by major world governments and it is therefore necessary to consider the efficiency of the methods we currently use to generate energy. It has previously been estimated that 63% of global energy consumption is wasted with the major form of this waste being heat.1,2 It is therefore important to develop methods of reconverting this wasted heat back in to useful forms of energy, such as electricity.Thermoelectric generators (TEG) are a promising technology which make use of a process known as the Seebeck effect for heat recovery. The Seebeck effect can be described as two dissimilar conductors or semiconductors connected thermally in parallel and electrically in series and exposed to a temperature gradient causing a difference in voltage between the two materials.3,4 In a TEG one p-type and one ntype semiconductor make use of the Seebeck effect by connecting one to the other electrically in series and thermally in parallel; a general device setup is shown in Figure 1. By connecting the two components, by a junction which is heated, the n-type component of the device transports electrons from the hot junction to a heat sink while the p-type material transports positively charged holes along the same direction of the temperature gradient. The reverse is also possible if the holes and electrons flow away from a cold connecting junction to a heated point at the end of each semiconductor, this induces a constant cooling at the junction through the Peltier effect. 4,5The quantification of the Seebeck effect, in a specific material, is given by the Seebeck coefficient, α, and is the open circuit voltage of a material subjected to a temperature gradient, commonly with units on the scale of μVK −1 to mVK −1 . 6 A materials overall efficiency in the conversion of heat to electricity is given by the dimensionless figure of merit, ZT, defined as,where σ is the electrical conductivity and κ is the thermal conductivity. [6][7][8] It is therefore necessary for thermoelectric materials to have a high electrical conductivity and a low thermal conductivity making electrically conducting metals inappropriate for thermoelectric applications due to their high thermal conductivities and low z E-mail: m.j.carnie@swansea.ac.uk; derya.baran@kaust.edu.sa; b.c.schroeder@qmul .ac.uk Seebeck coefficients. The ideal thermoelectric materials should be an electrical crystal to maximize σ and at the s...

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Section: P-type Organic Thermoelectric Materialsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…44,45 Aqueous PEDOT:PSS dispersions are commercially available and its properties and uses in device configuration have been widely explored. PEDOT is a polythiophene derivative made up from 3,4-ethylendioxythiophene (EDOT) monomer units and is a positive charge carrying species in the copolymer blend.…”

Section: P-type Organic Thermoelectric Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review—Organic Materials for Thermoelectric Energy Generation

Cowen

Atoyo

Carnie

et al. 2017

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

129

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“…The value of ZT for polypyrrole is comparable with that of some traditionally used inorganic thermoelectric materials [8,16]. Besides polyaniline and polypyrrole, other materials, such as polythiophene has been recently investtigated, in the form of nanofilms too [20][21].…”

Section: Thermal-electric Effectsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Polypyrrole Coated PET Fabrics for Thermal Applications

Sparavigna¹,

Florio²,

Avloni³

et al. 2010

MSA

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“…C Recent research on organic thermoelectric materials has focused on their unique electronic properties. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] However the traditional semi-metals, such as bismuth and telluride alloys, still currently dominate the application of thermoelectrics, since they present remarkably high Seebeck coefficients. 10 As their thermoelectric and magneto-thermopower properties have been greatly understood, they have been widely employed in electronics and automobiles as commercialized thermoelectrics.…”

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confidence: 99%

Magneto-Seebeck effect in an ITO/PEDOT:PSS/Au thin-film device

et al. 2016

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This article reports giant magnetic field effects on the Seebeck coefficient by exerting a Lorentz force on charge diffusion based on vertical multi-layer ITO/PEDOT:PSS/Au thin-film devices. The Lorentz force, induced by an external magnetic field, changes the charge transport and consequently generates angular dependent magnetoresistance. The proposed mechanism of the magneto-Seebeck effect is proved by measuring the magnetoresistance at a parallel, 45o and perpendicular angle to the temperature gradient. The gradual change of the magnetoresistance from a parallel to perpendicular angle indicates that the Lorentz force is a key driving force to develop the magneto-Seebeck effect. Therefore, our experimental results demonstrate a magnetic approach to control the thermoelectric properties in organic materials.

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Organic Semiconductors for Thermoelectric Applications

Cited by 115 publications

References 14 publications

Review—Organic Materials for Thermoelectric Energy Generation

Review—Organic Materials for Thermoelectric Energy Generation

Polypyrrole Coated PET Fabrics for Thermal Applications

Magneto-Seebeck effect in an ITO/PEDOT:PSS/Au thin-film device

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