Recent Advances in Multicomponent Organic Composite Thermoelectric Materials

Abstract

Organic thermoelectric materials have the potential to be used as power supplies for wearable electronics, implantable medical devices, and sensors in Internet of Things. The past 10 years has witnessed the rapid development of the research on organic thermoelectric materials, different material systems and optimizing strategies are developed, and the ZT values of some organic materials have approached that of many inorganic thermoelectric material systems in the low‐temperature region. Among different material systems, organic composite materials, especially multicomponent organic composite materials show very promising thermoelectric properties and offer more tunability compared to single component thermoelectric materials. Multicomponent organic composite thermoelectric materials can not only further improve the ZT values, but also have unique advantages of combining the merits of different materials, thus rendering the composites with better processing, mechanical, or other properties on demand. This review summarizes the concepts, the design criteria, the research progress of organic–inorganic and all‐organic multicomponent thermoelectric materials which contain three or more different ingredients, as well as their applications. Furthermore, the challenges and prospects are also analyzed to provide guidelines for the development of multicomponent organic composite thermoelectric materials.

Synergistic Interactions in Sequential Process Doping of Polymer/Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposites for Enhanced n‐Type Thermoelectric Performance

“…In recent years, significant progress has been made in enhancing the thermoelectric performance of nanocomposites composed of conjugated polymers and single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). [ 18 ] This is because the ability to design and tailor the chemical structures of the conjugated polymers enables the effective dispersion of the SWCNTs during the solution process, while also moderating the energy barrier between the SWCNT junctions and promoting interfacial phonon scattering. [ 19–21 ] These factors collectively contribute to an improved film quality, decreased thermal conductivity, and increased Seebeck coefficient.…”

Cerium Methacrylate Assisted Preparation of Highly Thermally Conductive and Anticorrosive Multifunctional Coatings for Heat Conduction Metals Protection

“…For the hybrid F-CB network, h-CMAs could act as bridges between adjacent BN sheets by the virtue of "cation-π" interaction. This could reduce the ITR and provide efficient channels for phonon transport between the adjacent BN sheets compared to pure epoxy, resulting in a significant improvement in TC of F-CB/CEP coating compared with other coatings at the same BN loading [ 30 , 31 ]. Specifically, in comparison with the low TC of 0.76, 0.82, and 0.84 W m −1 K −1 for BN/DEP, BN/CEP, F-CB/CEP coatings, respectively, when the BN content is 20 wt%, the TC of the above coatings reach 2.51, 3.95, and 4.29 W m −1 K −1 after introducing 50 wt% BN.…”

Elevating Thermoelectric Performance by Compositing Dibromo-Substituted Thienoacene with SWCNTs

“…6−8 OTE materials have been widely investigated in recent years due to their flexibility, low thermal conductivity, and low cost. 9 Meanwhile, owing to the low thermal conductivity of the OTE materials, their thermoelectric properties are usually evaluated in terms of power factor (PF = S 2 σ). OTE materials are mainly categorized into polymer and organic small molecules (OSMs) thermoelectric materials.…”