Triggering ZT to 0.40 by Engineering Orientation in One Polymeric Semiconductor

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 35; no. 2; pp. e2208215 - n/a
• Main Authors: Wang, Dongyang, Ding, Jiamin, Dai, Xiaojuan, Xiang, Lanyi, Ye, Dekai, He, Zihan, Zhang, Fengjiao, Jung, Seok‐Heon, Lee, Jin‐Kyun, Di, Chong‐an, Zhu, Daoben
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-01-2023
• Subjects: Doping; Electrical resistivity; Maximum power; molecular orientation; organic thermoelectric materials; Orientation; Polymer films; polymer semiconductors; Power factor; Seebeck effect; Semiconductors; organic thermoelectric materials; molecular orientation; polymer semiconductors
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202208215

Breaking the thermoelectric (TE) trade‐off relationship is an important task for maximizing the TE performance of polymeric semiconductors. Existing efforts have focused on designing high‐mobility semiconductors and achieving ordered molecular doping, ignoring the critical role of the molecular orientation during TE conversion. Herein, the achievement of ZT to 0.40 is reported by fine‐tuning the molecular orientation of one diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)‐based polymer (DPP‐BTz). Films with bimodal molecular orientation yield superior doping efficiency by increasing the lamellar spacing and achieve increased splitting between the Fermi energy and the transport energy to enhance the thermopower. These factors contribute to the simultaneous improvement in the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity in an unexpected manner. Importantly, the bimodal film exhibits a maximum power factor of up to 346 µW m−1 K−2, >400% higher than that of unimodal films. These results demonstrate the great potential of molecular orientation engineering in polymeric semiconductors for developing state‐of‐the‐art organic TE (OTE) materials.
Bimodal orientation of diketopyrrolopyrrole‐based polymer films exhibits a figure of merit of 0.40, which is more than 400% superior to the corresponding values of face‐on/edge‐on unimodal films.