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Title: Large n- and p-type thermoelectric power factors from doped semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube thin films

Journal Article · · Energy & Environmental Science
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/C7EE01130J· OSTI ID:1395100
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [4];  [4]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); International Thermodyne, Inc., Charlotte, NC (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  3. Univ. of Denver, Denver, CO (United States)
  4. International Thermodyne, Inc., Charlotte, NC (United States)

Lightweight, robust, and flexible single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) materials can be processed inexpensively using solution-based techniques, similar to other organic semiconductors. In contrast to many semiconducting polymers, semiconducting SWCNTs (s-SWCNTs) represent unique one-dimensional organic semiconductors with chemical and physical properties that facilitate equivalent transport of electrons and holes. These factors have driven increasing attention to employing s-SWCNTs for electronic and energy harvesting applications, including thermoelectric (TE) generators. Here we demonstrate a combination of ink chemistry, solid-state polymer removal, and charge-transfer doping strategies that enable unprecedented n-type and p-type TE power factors, in the range of 700 μW m–1 K–2 at 298 K for the same solution-processed highly enriched thin films containing 100% s-SWCNTs. We also demonstrate that the thermal conductivity appears to decrease with decreasing s-SWCNT diameter, leading to a peak material zT ≈ 0.12 for s-SWCNTs with diameters in the range of 1.0 nm. Here, our results indicate that the TE performance of s-SWCNT-only material systems is approaching that of traditional inorganic semiconductors, paving the way for these materials to be used as the primary components for efficient, all-organic TE generators.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1395100
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5900-68583; EESNBY
Journal Information:
Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 10, Issue 10; ISSN 1754-5692
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 133 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Flexible Thermoelectric Devices of Ultrahigh Power Factor by Scalable Printing and Interface Engineering journal November 2019
Carbon-Nanotube-Based Thermoelectric Materials and Devices journal January 2018
Solution-Processing of High-Purity Semiconducting Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Electronics Devices journal July 2018
Conductivity Tuning via Doping with Electron Donating and Withdrawing Molecules in Perovskite CsPbI 3 Nanocrystal Films journal May 2019
Thermally Enhanced n‐Type Thermoelectric Behavior in Completely Organic Graphene Oxide‐Based Thin Films journal October 2018
Intrinsic and Extrinsically Limited Thermoelectric Transport within Semiconducting Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotube Networks journal February 2019
Recent Advances in n‐Type Thermoelectric Nanocomposites journal February 2019
A Brief Review on Measuring Methods of Thermal Conductivity of Organic and Hybrid Thermoelectric Materials journal June 2019
Customizing the Polarity of Single‐Walled Carbon‐Nanotube Field‐Effect Transistors Using Solution‐Based Additives journal November 2019
Surfactant-driven Amphoteric Doping of Carbon Nanotubes journal November 2018
Thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube networks: a review journal February 2019
Thermoelectric properties of dispersant-free semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes sorted by a flavin extraction method journal January 2019
Farming thermoelectric paper journal January 2019
High n-type and p-type thermoelectric performance of two-dimensional SiTe at high temperature journal January 2018
Enhanced thermoelectric performance of CNT/P3HT composites with low CNT content journal January 2018
Tailoring the framework of organic small molecule semiconductors towards high-performance thermoelectric composites via conglutinated carbon nanotube webs journal January 2018
Enhanced ion transport in densified CNT arrays journal January 2018
Electrochemical n-type doping of carbon nanotube films by using supramolecular electrolytes journal January 2018
High-performance n-type thermoelectric composites of acridones with tethered tertiary amines and carbon nanotubes journal January 2018
Multifunctional inorganic nanomaterials for energy applications journal January 2020
A practical field guide to thermoelectrics: Fundamentals, synthesis, and characterization journal June 2018
Isotropic Seebeck coefficient of aligned single-wall carbon nanotube films journal December 2018
Thermoelectric properties of sorted semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube sheets journal March 2019
Macroscopically aligned carbon nanotubes for flexible and high-temperature electronics, optoelectronics, and thermoelectrics journal December 2019
Compliant and stretchable thermoelectric coils for energy harvesting in miniature flexible devices journal November 2018
Carbon-Based Materials for Thermoelectrics journal July 2018
Thermoelectric Properties of Carbon Nanotubes journal November 2019
Impact of Synthesis Parameters of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on their Thermoelectric Properties journal October 2019
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Thermoelectric properties of sorted semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube sheets text January 2019
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