Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance of Conjugated Polymer/Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composites with Strong Stacking

Abstract

We design and synthesize a novel donor–acceptor-type BDT-based conjugated polymer,PBDTDTffBT, and prepare composite films containing single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and the PBDTDTffBT polymer. Strong π–π interfacial interactions are present between the PBDTDTffBT polymer and the SWCNTs, and we systematically study the effects of different mass ratios of PBDTDTffBT to SWCNTs on the thermoelectric (TE) properties. The maximum electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, power factor, and ZT value of the composite films are 529.3 S cm–1, 68.1 μV K–1, 80.9 μW m–1 K–2, and 0.028 at room temperature, respectively. Additionally, the composite film with a PBDTDTffBT:SWCNT mass ratio of 1:10 exhibits the highest power factor of 116.7 μW m–1 K–2 at approximately 95 °C. This study has a large potential to broaden the research scope of composite TE materials.