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Enhanced thermoelectric properties of sorbitol-mixed PEDOT:PSS thin films by chemical reduction

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Abstract

This study systematically examined the thermoelectric (TE) properties of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) thin films by enhancing the electrical conductivity with D-sorbitol and by controlling the oxidation level with tetrakis (dimethylamino) ethylene (TDAE) vapor treatment. Mixing sorbitol into PEDOT:PSS changed the morphology of the films, increasing the electrical conductivity up to 722.06 S cm−1, which is over two orders of magnitude higher than that of pristine PEDOT:PSS (1.53 S cm−1). For even better TE properties, we subsequently exposed the films to TDAE vapor (which is a well-known reducing agent) for various treatment times to control their oxidation levels. The difference in the redox state as a function of the reduction time was easily identified by the naked eye owing to the electrochromic properties of PEDOT:PSS. As a result, we obtained a high power factor of 22.28 μW m−1 K−2 from the sorbitol-mixed PEDOT:PSS thin films that were treated via chemical reduction. This value is three times higher than that of devices without TDAE treatment (7.26 μW m−1 K−2). The properties and changes in the films fabricated with sorbitol and TDAE treatments were characterized by atomic force microscopy and UV–Vis-NIR absorption.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2014R1A1A2055322).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronic Engineering, Dong-A University, Busan, 604-714, Korea

    Eunho Yang, Jaeyun Kim & Jeonghun Kwak

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Seoul, Seoul, 130-743, Korea

    Byung Jun Jung

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  1. Eunho Yang
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Correspondence to Jeonghun Kwak.

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Yang, E., Kim, J., Jung, B.J. et al. Enhanced thermoelectric properties of sorbitol-mixed PEDOT:PSS thin films by chemical reduction. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 26, 2838–2843 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-2766-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-2766-0

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