DOC-Stabilized PVAc/MWCNTs Composites for Higher Thermoelectric Performance

Abstract

Novel technologies of energy generation are being developed nowadays to keep pace with the increasing energy crisis. Thermoelectric materials have the capability of harvesting waste heat and efficiently converting into useful electrical current. In this work, a commercial polymer is developed to be adopted for thermal electrical energy conversion. Low thermal conductivity Polyvinyl Acetate is used to host multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) with different weight percentages (10–70) wt% with the addition of semiconducting Sodium Deoxycholate (DOC) as a nanofiller stabilizer. DOC was found to have a dual role in improving the dispersion of the nanotubes and stabilizing the composite, and hence resulting in higher thermoelectric performance. The composite with 70wt% MWNTs showed the highest electrical conductivity of 171.7S/m at 100℃ while the 50 wt% composite recorded the greatest power factor of 0.008µW/mK2 at the same temperature.