Issue 5, 2020

Meters-long, sewable, wearable conductive polymer wires for thermoelectric applications

Abstract

There is a great need for flexible and wearable power generators. Wire-shaped thermoelectric (TE) devices provide a solution that can convert waste heat to electricity. Here, meters-long, sewable and wearable conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) wires are fabricated based on the removal of the outer-ring PSS. The wires are sewable and exhibit a conductivity of 1433 S cm−1 at room temperature, a Seebeck coefficient of 21.3 μV K−1 and a power factor (PF) of 65 μW (mK2)−1. The wires have a cross-sectional area of about 570 μm2 and a tensile strength of about 200 MPa, and show stable electrical conductivity in air and under different temperatures. Under a temperature gradient (about 3 K) generated from hands and room temperature, a TE generator with 34 pairs of PEDOT:PSS and copper wires assembled on a fabric outputs a voltage of 2.2 mV. It shows potential for applications in wearable devices.

Graphical abstract: Meters-long, sewable, wearable conductive polymer wires for thermoelectric applications

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
07 Nov 2019
Accepted
14 Jan 2020
First published
14 Jan 2020

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020,8, 1571-1576

Meters-long, sewable, wearable conductive polymer wires for thermoelectric applications

R. Ge, X. Dong, L. Sun, L. Hu, T. Liu, W. Zeng, B. Luo, X. Jiang, Y. Jiang and Y. Zhou, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020, 8, 1571 DOI: 10.1039/C9TC06079K

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