Polymer gels with tunable ionic Seebeck coefficient for ultra-sensitive printed thermopiles
Journal article, 2019

Measuring temperature and heat flux is important for regulating any physical, chemical, and biological processes. Traditional thermopiles can provide accurate and stable temperature reading but they are based on brittle inorganic materials with low Seebeck coefficient, and are difficult to manufacture over large areas. Recently, polymer electrolytes have been proposed for thermoelectric applications because of their giant ionic Seebeck coefficient, high flexibility and ease of manufacturing. However, the materials reported to date have positive Seebeck coefficients, hampering the design of ultra-sensitive ionic thermopiles. Here we report an “ambipolar” ionic polymer gel with giant negative ionic Seebeck coefficient. The latter can be tuned from negative to positive by adjusting the gel composition. We show that the ion-polymer matrix interaction is crucial to control the sign and magnitude of the ionic Seebeck coefficient. The ambipolar gel can be easily screen printed, enabling large-area device manufacturing at low cost.

Author

Dan Zhao

Linköping University

Anna Martinelli

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Andreas Willfahrt

tuttgart Media University

Linköping University

Thomas Fischer

tuttgart Media University

Diana Bernin

Chemical Engineering Design

Zia Ullah Khan

Linköping University

Maryam Shahi

University of Kentucky

Joseph Brill

University of Kentucky

Magnus P. Jonsson

Linköping University

S. Fabiano

Linköping University

X. Crispin

Linköping University

Nature Communications

2041-1723 (ISSN) 20411723 (eISSN)

Vol. 10 1 1093

Subject Categories

Polymer Chemistry

Physical Chemistry

Condensed Matter Physics

DOI

10.1038/s41467-019-08930-7

PubMed

30842422

More information

Latest update

4/6/2022 8