Progress and Perspective: Soft Thermoelectric Materials for Wearable and Internet‐of‐Things Applications

Abstract

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Soft thermoelectric materials, including conjugated polymers and organic-inorganic hybrids, now demonstrate figures of merit approaching those of inorganic materials. These materials development breakthroughs enable the design of thermoelectric devices that exhibit appropriate efficiencies for commercial use, while simultaneously leveraging the unique processing and mechanical advantages of soft materials. Such technology opens the door to a suite of new thermoelectric applications, including power generation for biomedical implants and the Internet of Things, or wearable heating and cooling devices. In order to realize deployment of such technologies, there is a fundamental need for deeper understanding of the complex transport physics underlying thermoelectric transport in soft materials. This progress report discusses the current state-of-the-art in soft thermoelectrics materials and highlight outstanding challenges specific to organic and organic-inorganic hybrid systems.

Polycarbazole and Its Derivatives: Synthesis and Applications. A Review of the Last 10 Years

“…The growth of the last decade has been favoured by the increase in devices related to the internet of things (IoT). These types of devices require new materials capable of satisfying their high requirements, with conductive polymers being one of the most widely used materials for these devices [ 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ]. Among the conductive polymers, polycarbazole derivatives have also received increasing attention.…”

A Highly Conductive Conjugated Polyelectrolyte for Flexible Organic Thermoelectrics

“…[32][33] However, these heavily doped CPs have an intrinsically low σ ≤ 10 -1 S cm -1 due to the inevitable excess of insulating ionic templates, and the charge transport properties of these CPs are particularly sensitive to the microscale/nanoscale morphology of insulating and conducting binary composites. 19,[34][35] For these reasons, considerable efforts have been made to improve the conducting network and morphology of CP films using numerous film-engineering approaches. [36][37][38] In parallel, the aqueous solubility of CPs can also be induced by introducing ionfunctionalized side chains to the conjugated backbone.…”

The Molecular Weight Dependence of Thermoelectric Properties of Poly (3-Hexylthiophene)

“…large power generation is not required, but being lightweight and flexible are paramount [7][8][9]. The performance of thermoelectric materials depends on the dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT), which is defined as ZT = S 2 σT/k, where σ (S/m), k (W/mK), S (V/K), and T (K) are the electrical conductivity, the thermal conductivity, the Seebeck coefficient, and the absolute temperature, respectively.…”