Abstract
Ag-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and Cu–PEDOT nanocomposites have been synthesized by an interfacial polymerization method, using 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and AgNO3 or Cu(NO3)2 as starting materials. Ag–PEDOT or Cu–PEDOT nanocomposites prepared at an interface of n-hexane and acetonitrile are spherical Ag- or Cu- nanoparticle (0D)-modified PEDOT nanostructures, while a Cu–PEDOT nanocomposite prepared at an interface of n-hexane and a mixture of acetonitrile and glycol exhibits a different morphology: Cu nanostructures are needle-like (1D) and embedded in a PEDOT matrix. Ag- or Cu-nanoparticle contents in the composites can be tuned by changing oxidant (AgNO3 or Cu(NO3)2)/EDOT molar ratios, and thermoelectric properties of the pellets cold pressed from composite powders with different Ag or Cu contents have been measured at room temperature. When the oxidant/EDOT molar ratio is 2, both Ag–PEDOT and Cu–PEDOT nanocomposites with spherical Cu nanoparticles reach their largest power factors of 1.49 and 7.07 μW m−1 K−2, respectively, while Cu–PEDOT nanocomposite with needle-like Cu nanoparticles has consistently higher power factor than the above composites. When the oxidant/EDOT molar ratio is 1, it reaches its largest power factor of 12.47 μW m−1 K−2 and the highest ZT value of 0.01 at room temperature.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the 973 Project under Grant No. 2013CB632500, National Natural Science Foundation of China (51271133, 61306018), the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China, State Key Lab of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing (Wuhan University of Technology), and State Key Lab of Silicon Materials (Zhejiang University).
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Wang, Y., Cai, K., Chen, S. et al. One-step interfacial synthesis and thermoelectric properties of Ag/Cu-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nanostructured composites. J Nanopart Res 16, 2531 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-014-2531-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-014-2531-y