导电聚合物热电材料研究进展

导电聚合物在室温下具有较高的电导率(σ)、较低的热导率(κ)、柔韧性好、易于合成、原料来源丰富、对环境无污染等优势,是目前最具有热电应用潜力的有机热电材料之一。然而,目前针对导电聚合物作为有机热电材料的相关研究依然处于初级阶段,其在空气气氛中的化学稳定性问题、低的热电优值及尚未完全明确的热电机制一直困扰着研究人员。本文主要针对以上问题,在对前人的研究成果进行综述的基础上对目前有机热电材料所面临的关键问题进行阐述和总结。

Research development of conducting polymers as organic thermoelectric materials

Conducting polymers are promising organic thermoelectric materials, possessing some unique advantages, such as good flexibility, rich monomer sources, facile synthesis processes, and eco-friendly. Comparing to the inorganic thermoelectric materials, the relatively high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity make it is possible to obtain a high thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT). However, since the study on conducting polymers as organic thermoelectric materials is still at its early stage, there are still many questions to be answered, such as the mechanisms for organic thermoelectric conductivity, the yet-to-be improved stability in air, and the lower ZT value compared with their inorganic counterparts. Therefore, in this article we will not only focus on summarizing previous achievements on organic thermoelectric materials with conducting polymers, but also try to point out the key difficulties for the studying organic thermoelectric materials at present.