Nanorods of a novel highly conductive 2D metal–organic framework based on perthiolated coronene for thermoelectric conversion

Abstract

Conducting metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), especially those with high electrical conductivity (>10⁻³ S cm⁻¹) have shown promising functions in many aspects. Here, nanorods of a novel metal–organic framework (MOF) based on perthiolated coronene (PTC) is synthesized by a homogeneous reaction. The structural, morphological and component analyses reveal that the nanorods are composed of a 2D Kagomé lattice with the formula of [Ni₃(C₂₄S₁₂)]_n. The compressed sample of the nanorods displays an electrical conductivity of ∼9 S cm⁻¹ at 300 K and a weak semiconductor-like temperature dependence. Furthermore, a moderate Seebeck coefficient of 47.0 μV K⁻¹ and an extremely low thermal conductivity of 0.2 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ result in a figure of merit (ZT value) of thermoelectricity of 0.003 at 300 K. This is the best p-type thermoelectric performance in conducting MOFs ever reported.