Blended Conjugated Host and Unconjugated Dopant Polymers Towards N‐type All‐Polymer Conductors and High‐ZT Thermoelectrics

A new n-type polymer PDPIN is synthesized and thermoelectric performance of N-DMBI, TABF and polymer PSpF-doped PDPIN are explored. All-polymer thermoelectrics of PDPIN:PSpF present high electrical conductivity of 78.1 S cm⁻¹, power factor of 163 μW m⁻¹ K⁻² and ZT of 0.53, suggesting the impressive superiority of PDPIN:PSpF systems in low thermal conductivity and high ZT-thermoelectrics.

Abstract

N-Type thermoelectrics typically consist of small molecule dopant+polymer host. Only a few polymer dopant+polymer host systems have been reported, and these have lower thermoelectric parameters. N-type polymers with high crystallinity and order are generally used for high-conductivity ( ) organic conductors. Few n-type polymers with only short-range lamellar stacking for high-conductivity materials have been reported. Here, we describe an n-type short-range lamellar-stacked all-polymer thermoelectric system with highest of 78 S⁻¹, power factor (PF) of 163 μW m⁻¹ K⁻², and maximum Figure of merit (ZT) of 0.53 at room temperature with a dopant/host ratio of 75 wt%. The minor effect of polymer dopant on the molecular arrangement of conjugated polymer PDPIN at high ratios, high doping capability, high Seebeck coefficient (S) absolute values relative to , and atypical decreased thermal conductivity ( ) with increased doping ratio contribute to the promising performance.

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