DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Ultrahigh thermoelectric power factor in flexible hybrid inorganic-organic superlattice

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [2]
  1. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China)
  2. Toyota Physical and Chemical Research Institute, Nagakute (Japan)
  3. Nagoya Univ., Nagoya (Japan)
  4. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Hybrid inorganic–organic superlattice with an electron-transmitting but phonon-blocking structure has emerged as a promising flexible thin film thermoelectric material. However, the substantial challenge in optimizing carrier concentration without disrupting the superlattice structure prevents further improvement of the thermoelectric performance. Here we demonstrate a strategy for carrier optimization in a hybrid inorganic–organic superlattice of TiS2[tetrabutylammonium] x [hexylammonium] y, where the organic layers are composed of a random mixture of tetrabutylammonium and hexylammonium molecules. By vacuum heating the hybrid materials at an intermediate temperature, the hexylammonium molecules with a lower boiling point are selectively de-intercalated, which reduces the electron density due to the requirement of electroneutrality. The tetrabutylammonium molecules with a higher boiling point remain to support and stabilize the superlattice structure. Furthermore, the carrier concentration can thus be effectively reduced, resulting in a remarkably high power factor of 904 µW m–1 K–2 at 300 K for flexible thermoelectrics, approaching the values achieved in conventional inorganic semiconductors.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1406989
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5500-70434
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Vol. 8, Issue 1; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 131 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (56)

Engineered doping of organic semiconductors for enhanced thermoelectric efficiency journal May 2013
Electronic transport properties of K x C 70 thin films journal October 1993
Formation of NaTHFgraphite intercalation compounds journal June 1996
Cation exchange reactions and layer solvate complexes of ternary phases MxMoS2 journal May 1974
Organic thermoelectric materials for energy harvesting and temperature control journal August 2016
Dielectric Mismatch Mediates Carrier Mobility in Organic-Intercalated Layered TiS 2 journal September 2015
Flexible thermoelectric materials and device optimization for wearable energy harvesting journal January 2015
Importance of high power factor in thermoelectric materials for power generation application: A perspective journal January 2016
Complex thermoelectric materials journal February 2008
Intercalation compounds of graphite journal January 2002
Completely Organic Multilayer Thin Film with Thermoelectric Power Factor Rivaling Inorganic Tellurides journal April 2015
Hybrid composite of screen-printed inorganic thermoelectric film and organic conducting polymer for flexible thermoelectric power generator journal August 2014
Flexible Power Fabrics Made of Carbon Nanotubes for Harvesting Thermoelectricity journal February 2014
Organic Thermoelectric Materials and Devices Based on p- and n-Type Poly(metal 1,1,2,2-ethenetetrathiolate)s journal January 2012
Layer-by-layer design of nanostructured thermoelectrics: First-principles study of ZnO:organic superlattices fabricated by ALD/MLD journal April 2016
Power Factor Enhancement in Solution-Processed Organic n-Type Thermoelectrics Through Molecular Design journal March 2014
Flexible n-type thermoelectric materials by organic intercalation of layered transition metal dichalcogenide TiS2 journal April 2015
Bismuth Interfacial Doping of Organic Small Molecules for High Performance n-type Thermoelectric Materials journal August 2016
Inorganic and Organic Solution-Processed Thin Film Devices journal September 2016
Fiber-based flexible thermoelectric power generator journal January 2008
Tailored semiconducting carbon nanotube networks with enhanced thermoelectric properties journal April 2016
Thermoelectric characteristics of (Zn,Al)O/hydroquinone superlattices journal January 2013
Thermoelectrics: Carbon nanotubes get high journal April 2016
Toward High Performance n -Type Thermoelectric Materials by Rational Modification of BDPPV Backbones journal May 2015
In-situ conductivity and Seebeck measurements of highly efficient n-dopants in fullerene C 60 journal February 2012
Ultralow thermal conductivity and high thermoelectric figure of merit in SnSe crystals journal April 2014
Flexible n-type thermoelectric films based on Cu-doped Bi 2 Se 3 nanoplate and Polyvinylidene Fluoride composite with decoupled Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity journal November 2015
Promising Thermoelectric Properties of Commercial PEDOT:PSS Materials and Their Bi 2 Te 3 Powder Composites journal October 2010
Flexible n-Type High-Performance Thermoelectric Thin Films of Poly(nickel-ethylenetetrathiolate) Prepared by an Electrochemical Method journal March 2016
Copper ion liquid-like thermoelectrics journal March 2012
Solubility-Limited Extrinsic n-Type Doping of a High Electron Mobility Polymer for Thermoelectric Applications journal January 2014
Transport and optical properties of Ti 1 + x S 2 journal August 1981
Anisotropic Tuning of Graphite Thermal Conductivity by Lithium Intercalation journal November 2016
Bismuth Interfacial Doping of Organic Small Molecules for High Performance n-type Thermoelectric Materials journal August 2016
Complex thermoelectric materials book October 2010
Intercalation compounds of graphite journal April 1981
Organic Thermoelectric Materials and Devices Based on p- and n-Type Poly(metal 1,1,2,2-ethenetetrathiolate)s journal January 2012
Solubility-Limited Extrinsic n-Type Doping of a High Electron Mobility Polymer for Thermoelectric Applications journal January 2014
Power Factor Enhancement in Solution-Processed Organic n-Type Thermoelectrics Through Molecular Design journal March 2014
Inorganic and Organic Solution-Processed Thin Film Devices journal September 2016
Formation of NaTHFgraphite intercalation compounds journal June 1996
Hybrid composite of screen-printed inorganic thermoelectric film and organic conducting polymer for flexible thermoelectric power generator journal August 2014
Fiber-based flexible thermoelectric power generator journal January 2008
Flexible n-type thermoelectric films based on Cu-doped Bi 2 Se 3 nanoplate and Polyvinylidene Fluoride composite with decoupled Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity journal November 2015
Layer-by-layer design of nanostructured thermoelectrics: First-principles study of ZnO:organic superlattices fabricated by ALD/MLD journal April 2016
Anisotropic Tuning of Graphite Thermal Conductivity by Lithium Intercalation journal November 2016
Dielectric Mismatch Mediates Carrier Mobility in Organic-Intercalated Layered TiS 2 journal September 2015
Toward High Performance n -Type Thermoelectric Materials by Rational Modification of BDPPV Backbones journal May 2015
Flexible Power Fabrics Made of Carbon Nanotubes for Harvesting Thermoelectricity journal February 2014
Tailored semiconducting carbon nanotube networks with enhanced thermoelectric properties journal April 2016
Thermoelectrics: Carbon nanotubes get high journal April 2016
Copper ion liquid-like thermoelectrics journal March 2012
Engineered doping of organic semiconductors for enhanced thermoelectric efficiency journal May 2013
Flexible n-type thermoelectric materials by organic intercalation of layered transition metal dichalcogenide TiS2 journal April 2015
In-situ conductivity and Seebeck measurements of highly efficient n-dopants in fullerene C 60 journal February 2012
Intercalation compounds of graphite journal January 2002

Cited By (38)

2D Group IVB Transition Metal Dichalcogenides journal August 2018
Robust High Thermoelectric Harvesting Under a Self-Humidifying Bilayer of Metal Organic Framework and Hydrogel Layer journal December 2018
Recent Advances in Liquid‐Like Thermoelectric Materials journal August 2019
Nanoscale Organic Thermoelectric Materials: Measurement, Theoretical Models, and Optimization Strategies journal August 2019
Thermal Transport in Conductive Polymer–Based Materials journal August 2019
Flexible Thermoelectric Devices of Ultrahigh Power Factor by Scalable Printing and Interface Engineering journal November 2019
Flexible Thermoelectric Materials and Generators: Challenges and Innovations journal May 2019
Smart Textile‐Integrated Microelectronic Systems for Wearable Applications journal July 2019
Progress of Photodetectors Based on the Photothermoelectric Effect journal July 2019
Fabrication of a MoS 2 /Graphene Nanoribbon Heterojunction Network for Improved Thermoelectric Properties journal September 2019
3D Printing of Solution‐Processable 2D Nanoplates and 1D Nanorods for Flexible Thermoelectrics with Ultrahigh Power Factor at Low‐Medium Temperatures journal September 2019
Progress on PEDOT:PSS/Nanocrystal Thermoelectric Composites journal February 2019
Fabrication and Characterization of a Hybrid Bi 2 Se 3 /Organic Superlattice for Thermoelectric Energy Conversion journal March 2019
Recent Advances in n‐Type Thermoelectric Nanocomposites journal February 2019
Low Thermal Conductivity in Thermoelectric Oxide-Based Multiphase Composites journal August 2019
Exceptional thermoelectric properties of flexible organic−inorganic hybrids with monodispersed and periodic nanophase journal September 2018
High performance n-type Ag2Se film on nylon membrane for flexible thermoelectric power generator journal February 2019
Ultra-high performance wearable thermoelectric coolers with less materials journal April 2019
Enhanced thermoelectric performance of CNT/P3HT composites with low CNT content journal January 2018
Cross-plane thermoelectric Seebeck coefficients in nanoscale Al 2 O 3 /ZnO superlattice films journal January 2019
Superlattices based on van der Waals 2D materials journal January 2019
Ternary metal selenide/MWCNT/PANI: potential n-type nanohybrids for room-temperature thermoelectric applications journal January 2019
Carbon nanotube yarn based thermoelectric textiles for harvesting thermal energy and powering electronics journal January 2020
Enhanced thermoelectric performance in single-crystal-like semiconducting flexible GaAs films journal March 2019
Organic π-type thermoelectric module supported by photolithographic mold: a working hypothesis of sticky thermoelectric materials journal July 2018
Thermoelectric materials and applications for energy harvesting power generation journal November 2018
Excellent thermoelectric performance induced by interface effect in MoS 2 /MoSe 2 van der Waals heterostructure journal October 2019
Lattice thermal conductivity of TiS 2 , ZrS 2 , and HfS 2 : Periodic trends studied by dispersion-corrected hybrid density functional methods journal July 2019
Raman Characterization on Two-Dimensional Materials-Based Thermoelectricity journal December 2018
Sonochemically-Promoted Preparation of Silica-Anchored Cyclodextrin Derivatives for Efficient Copper Catalysis journal July 2019
Progress in the Synthesis of Bifunctionalized Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane journal December 2019
Organic π-type thermoelectric module supported by photolithographic mold: a working hypothesis of sticky thermoelectric materials text January 2018
3D Printing of Solution‐Processable 2D Nanoplates and 1D Nanorods for Flexible Thermoelectrics with Ultrahigh Power Factor at Low‐Medium Temperatures journal September 2019
Ultra-high performance wearable thermoelectric coolers with less materials journal April 2019
Raman Characterization on Two-Dimensional Materials-Based Thermoelectricity journal December 2018
Sonochemically-Promoted Preparation of Silica-Anchored Cyclodextrin Derivatives for Efficient Copper Catalysis journal July 2019
Progress in the Synthesis of Bifunctionalized Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane journal December 2019
Organic π-type thermoelectric module supported by photolithographic mold: a working hypothesis of sticky thermoelectric materials text January 2018