TY - JOUR
AU - Lin Yang
AU - Madeleine P Gordon
AU - Akanksha K Menon
AU - Alexandra Bruefach
AU - Kyle Haas
AU - M S Scott
AU - Ravi S Prasher
AU - Jeffrey J Urban
AB - <p><span>Organic-inorganic hybrids have recently emerged as a class of high-performing thermoelectric materials that are lightweight and mechanically flexible. However, the fundamental electrical and thermal transport in these materials has remained elusive due to the heterogeneity of bulk, polycrystalline, thin films reported thus far. Here, we systematically investigate a model hybrid comprising a single core/shell nanowire of Te-PEDOT:PSS. We show that as the nanowire diameter is reduced, the electrical conductivity increases and the thermal conductivity decreases, while the Seebeck coefficient remains nearly constant—this collectively results in a figure of merit,&nbsp;</span><em>ZT</em><span>, of 0.54 at 400 K. The origin of the decoupling of charge and heat transport lies in the fact that electrical transport occurs through the organic shell, while thermal transport is driven by the inorganic core. This study establishes design principles for high-performing thermoelectrics that leverage the unique interactions occurring at the interfaces of hybrid nanowires.</span></p>
BT - Science Advances
DA - 05/2022
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.abe6000
IS - 20
LA - eng
N2 - <p><span>Organic-inorganic hybrids have recently emerged as a class of high-performing thermoelectric materials that are lightweight and mechanically flexible. However, the fundamental electrical and thermal transport in these materials has remained elusive due to the heterogeneity of bulk, polycrystalline, thin films reported thus far. Here, we systematically investigate a model hybrid comprising a single core/shell nanowire of Te-PEDOT:PSS. We show that as the nanowire diameter is reduced, the electrical conductivity increases and the thermal conductivity decreases, while the Seebeck coefficient remains nearly constant—this collectively results in a figure of merit,&nbsp;</span><em>ZT</em><span>, of 0.54 at 400 K. The origin of the decoupling of charge and heat transport lies in the fact that electrical transport occurs through the organic shell, while thermal transport is driven by the inorganic core. This study establishes design principles for high-performing thermoelectrics that leverage the unique interactions occurring at the interfaces of hybrid nanowires.</span></p>
PY - 2021
EP - eabe6000
ST - Sci. Adv.
T2 - Science Advances
TI - Decoupling electron and phonon transport in single-nanowire hybrid materials for high-performance thermoelectrics
VL - 7
ER -