Sequential doping of solid chunks of a conjugated polymer for body-heat-powered thermoelectric modules
Journal article, 2021

Sequential doping of 1 mm3 sized cubes of regio-regular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) with 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-tetracyanoquinodimethane is found to result in a doping gradient. The dopant ingresses into the solid material and after two weeks of sequential doping yields a 250 μm thick doped surface layer, while the interior of the cubes remains undoped. The doping gradient is mapped with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), which is used to estimate a diffusion coefficient of 1 × 10-10 cm2 s-1 at room temperature. The cubes, prepared by pressing at 150 °C, feature alignment of polymer chains along the flow direction, which yields an electrical conductivity of 2.2 S cm-1 in the same direction. A 4-leg thermoelectric module was fabricated with slabs of pressed and doped P3HT, which generated a power of 0.22 μW for a temperature gradient of 10.2 °C generated by body heat.

Author

Liyang Yu

Sichuan University

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Dorothea Scheunemann

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Anja Lund

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

David Kiefer

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Christian Müller

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Applied Physics Letters

0003-6951 (ISSN) 1077-3118 (eISSN)

Vol. 119 18 181902

Hybrid Thermoelectrics: From Model to Device (HyThermEl)

European Commission (EC) (EC/H2020/799477), 2020-02-01 -- 2021-01-14.

Subject Categories

Ceramics

Materials Chemistry

Condensed Matter Physics

DOI

10.1063/5.0075789

More information

Latest update

11/24/2021