Improved Thermoelectric Performance of Flexible Polypyrrole/Tellurium Flexible Films Prepared by Two-Step Electrochemical Deposition

Abstract

Thermoelectric (TE) materials, which enable the converted heat into electricity, have attracted growing attention as an essential green energy. Organic TE material polypyrrole (PPy) is an attractive candidate, because of its intrinsic advantages including low toxicity, lightweight, and good environmental compatibility. However, its TE performance is still poor through adjusting the doping level, which hinders its further applications. Integrating pyrrole with inorganic TE materials can possess favorable synergistic effect, which is considered as an effective strategy to improve TE performance. In this work, PPy/Tellurium (Te) composite films were prepared by electrochemical deposition in H2SO4 and Na2TeO3 systems, and their TE properties were investigated. Consequently, the TE properties of the flexible composite PPy/Te film were optimized. The power factor (PF) is nearly 10 times higher than that of the PPy reaching 3.10 μW m-1 K-1 after 120 min of Te electrodeposition. When the deposition potential of Te is -0.8 V, the TE performance of the flexible PPy/Te film was further improved. The prepared films displayed a maximum PF of about 4.02 μW m-1 K-1, which is much better than those of original PPy. All results demonstrate that it’s a promising method for enhancing the TE performance of conducting polymer-based materials.