N-type thermoelectric performance of functionalized carbon nanotube-filled polymer composites

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were functionalized with polyethyleneimine (PEI) and made into composites with polyvinyl acetate (PVAc). CNTs were dispersed with different amounts of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) prior to the PEI functionalization. The resulting samples exhibit air-stable n-type cha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2012-11, Vol.7 (11), p.e47822
Main Authors: Freeman, Dallas D, Choi, Kyungwho, Yu, Choongho
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetic acid
Air exposure
Benzenesulfonates - chemistry
Carbon
Carbon nanotubes
Conductivity
Dispersion
Electric Conductivity
Electric properties
Electrical conductivity
Electrical resistivity
Energy (Physics)
Engineering
Fabrication
Materials Science
Materials Testing
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning - methods
Models, Statistical
Nanomaterials
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology - methods
Nanotubes
Nanotubes, Carbon - chemistry
Oxidation-Reduction
Oxygen
Oxygen - chemistry
Photovoltaic cells
Physics
Polyethyleneimine
Polymer industry
Polymer matrix composites
Polymers
Polymers - chemistry
Polyvinyl acetates
Polyvinyls - chemistry
Sodium
Surfactants
Temperature
Thermoelectricity
Transistors
Tubes
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Summary:Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were functionalized with polyethyleneimine (PEI) and made into composites with polyvinyl acetate (PVAc). CNTs were dispersed with different amounts of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) prior to the PEI functionalization. The resulting samples exhibit air-stable n-type characteristics with electrical conductivities as great as 1500 S/m and thermopowers as large as -100 µV/K. Electrical conductivity and thermopower were strongly affected by CNT dispersion, improving the properties with better dispersion with high concentrations of SDBS. This improvement is believed to be due to the increase in the number of tubes that are evenly coated with PEI in a better-dispersed sample. Increasing the amount of PEI relative to the other constituents positively affects thermopower but not conductivity. Air exposure reduces both thermopower and conductivity presumably due to oxygen doping (which makes CNTs p-type), but stable values were reached within seven days following sample fabrication.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0047822