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Thermoelectric BehaVior of Conducting Polymers: On the Possibility of “Off-Diagonal” Thermoelectricity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

N. Mateeva ,
H. Niculescu ,
J. Schlenoff  and
L. Testardi
N. Mateeva
Affiliation:
TecOne, Inc., 1803 Sageway Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32303
H. Niculescu
Affiliation:
Also at The Florida A&, M Univ./Florida State Univ. College of Engineering.
J. Schlenoff
Affiliation:
Also at The Chemistry Department of Florida State Univ
L. Testardi
Affiliation:
TecOne, Inc., 1803 Sageway Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32303
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Abstract

Non-cubic materials, when structurally aligned, possess sufficient anisotropy to exhibit thermoelectric effects where the electrical and thermal currents are orthogonal (“off-diagonal” thermoelectricity). We discuss the benefits of this form of thermoelectricity for devices and describe a search for suitable properties in the air-stable conducting polymers polyaniline and polypyrrole. We find the simple and general correlation that the logarithm of the electrical conductivity scales linearly with the Seebeck coefficient on doping but with proportionality in excess of the conventional prediction for thermoelectricity. The correlation is unexpected in its universality and unfavorable for thermoelectric applications. A simple model suggests that mobile charges of both signs exist in these polymers, and this leads to reduced thermoelectric efficiency. We also briefly discuss non air-stable polyacetylene, where “ambipolar” transport does not appear to occur, and where properties seem more favorable for thermoelectricity.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 478: Symposium Q – Thermoelectric Materials - New Directions and Approaches , 1997 , 243
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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References

1. For a further discussion of the “off-diagonal” thermoelectric effects see “Physical Properties of Crystals”, Nye, J.F., Chapter XII, Clarendon Press, (1985). For references to recent experimental observations, see L. R. Testardi, Appl Phys- Lett., 64 2347 (1994)Google Scholar
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