Multi-heterojunctioned plastics with high thermoelectric figure of merit

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Wang, Dongyang; Ding, Jiamin; Mal, Yingqiao; Xu, Chunlin; Li, Zhiyi; Zhang, Xiao; Zhao, Yao; Zhao, Yue; Di, Yuqiu; Liu, Liyao; Dai, Xiaojuan; Zou, Ye; Kim, BongSoo; Zhang, Fengjiao; Liu, Zitong; McCulloch, Iain; Lee, Myeongjae; Chang, Cheng; Yang, Xiao; Wang, Dong; Zhang, Deqing; Zhao, Li-Dong; Di, Chong-an; Zhu, Daoben
• 署名单位: Chinese Academy of Sciences; Institute of Chemistry, CAS; Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAS; Tsinghua University; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Institute of Chemistry, CAS; Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST); Lanzhou University; University of Oxford; King Abdullah University of Science & Technology; Korea University; Beihang University; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS; Tianmushan Lab
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-6712
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07724-2
• 发表日期: 2024-08-15
• 页码: 528-+
• 关键词: thermal-conductivity; performance; transport; devices; size

摘要

Conjugated polymers promise inherently flexible and low-cost thermoelectrics for powering the Internet of Things from waste heat(1,2). Their valuable applications, however, have been hitherto hindered by the low dimensionless figure of merit (ZT)(3-6). Here we report high-ZT thermoelectric plastics, which were achieved by creating a polymeric multi-heterojunction with periodic dual-heterojunction features, where each period is composed of two polymers with a sub-ten-nanometre layered heterojunction structure and an interpenetrating bulk-heterojunction interface. This geometry produces significantly enhanced interfacial phonon-like scattering while maintaining efficient charge transport. We observed a significant suppression of thermal conductivity by over 60per cent and an enhanced power factor when compared with individual polymers, resulting in a ZT of up to 1.28 at 368kelvin. This polymeric thermoelectric performance surpasses that of commercial thermoelectric materials and existing flexible thermoelectric candidates. Importantly, we demonstrated the compatibility of the polymeric multi-heterojunction structure with solution coating techniques for satisfying the demand for large-area plastic thermoelectrics, which paves the way for polymeric multi-heterojunctions towards cost-effective wearable thermoelectric technologies.