High Thermoelectric and Flexible PEDOT/SWCNT/BC Nanoporous Films Derived from Aerogels

Abstract

Recently, aerogels have been considered as hopeful thermoelectric (TE) materials because of their unique ultralow thermal conductivity compared to conventional bulk/film materials. However, their electrical conductivity cannot meet the requirement of good TE materials due to their highly porous feature. Herein, we composited poly(3,4-theylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) with SWCNT and bacterial cellulose (BC) to synthesize nanoporous PEDOT/SWCNT/BC films that can achieve high electrical and low thermal conductivity simultaneously by post-processing of their hybrid aerogels. A relatively high electrical conductivity of 290.6 S/cm and a low thermal conductivity of 0.13 W m–1 K–1 have been achieved for free-standing PEDOT/SWCNT/BC-32% film at room temperature. Furthermore, the films show an outstanding flexibility and fracture strength of 1.6 MPa and an elongation at break of 2.13%. The unique advantages of excellent flexibility and high electrical conductivity as well as low thermal conductivity make PEDOT/SWCNT/BC films have broad prospects in wearable thermoelectric applications.