| AVS 60th International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Energy Frontiers Focus Topic | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session EN+SE+SS+TF-WeM |
| Session: | Thin Films for Energy |
| Presenter: | G.J. Szulczewski, University of Alabama |
| Authors: | G.J. Szulczewski, University of Alabama K. Anderson, University of Alabama A. Yousuf, University of Alabama D. Wallace, University of Alabama K. Kreil, University of Alabama E. Ellingsworth, University of Alabama |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
In this talk we will present results from a systematic study to understand charge and heat transport through polymer composites containing inorganic nanowires. Specifically we have synthesized tellurium and bismuth telluride nanowires of various diameter/length by controlling the synthesis conditions. We used the aqueous conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy-thiophene):polystyrene sulphonate, or PEDOT:PSS, due to its low thermal conductivity. Thin films of the nanocomposites were made by drop casting and annealing. The films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. In general we find that increasing the weight fraction of nanowires with respect to PEDOT:PSS increases both the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient of the films. In addition, the electrical conductivity can be further increased by adding a secondary dopants without significant degradation of the thermopower factor. The spectroscopic measurements suggest that chemical and structural changes at the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy-thiophene) segment/inorganic nanowire interface are responsible for the improved thermoelectric performance of the nanocomposite.