Issue 5, 2017

Highly stable n-type thermoelectric materials fabricated via electron doping into inkjet-printed carbon nanotubes using oxygen-abundant simple polymers

Abstract

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are important candidates for flexible and non-toxic thermoelectric (TE) energy-harvesting devices because they have large Seebeck coefficients, good flexibility, and inkjet printability onto plastic substrates. Here we describe the successful n-type conversion of intrinsic p-type SWCNTs by polymer–dopant charge transfer. The negative Seebeck coefficients of the polymer-doped SWCNTs were strongly related to the highest occupied molecular orbital levels of the polymer, demonstrating that the polymers were electron donors for the nanotubes and that the doping level could be controlled by modifying the functional groups. The n-type SWCNTs obtained using oxygen-abundant polymers, such as poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(vinyl acetate), exhibited the largest negative Seebeck coefficients and high stability under ambient conditions lasting for at least 3 weeks. Printed and folded p- and n-type SWCNTs on flexible substrates showed efficient TE voltage improvements. Our findings enable the easy, low-cost preparation of air-stable n-type SWCNTs, permitting the exploitation of SWCNTs as flexible and eco-friendly TE materials.

Graphical abstract: Highly stable n-type thermoelectric materials fabricated via electron doping into inkjet-printed carbon nanotubes using oxygen-abundant simple polymers

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Jul 2017
Accepted
05 Oct 2017
First published
05 Oct 2017

Mol. Syst. Des. Eng., 2017,2, 616-623

Highly stable n-type thermoelectric materials fabricated via electron doping into inkjet-printed carbon nanotubes using oxygen-abundant simple polymers

S. Horike, T. Fukushima, T. Saito, T. Kuchimura, Y. Koshiba, M. Morimoto and K. Ishida, Mol. Syst. Des. Eng., 2017, 2, 616 DOI: 10.1039/C7ME00063D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements