Electrically Conductive Polypyrrole‐Bentonite Nanocomposite for Thermoelectric Applications

In this paper, a novel engineered thermoelectric nanocomposite, polypyrrole‐bentonite (PPBI), is presented that is prepared by in situ oxidation polymerization of pyrrole (Py) onto self‐assembled ionic liquid‐modified bentonite. The PPBI material offers excellent electrical conductivity, high charge‐carrier concentration and charge mobility, and low thermal conductivity, in addition to easy processability. The structure and morphology of the self‐assembled π‐structures of polypyrrole (Ppy) wrapped around the exfoliated bentonite nanolayers have been confirmed by various microscopic techniques, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Ultravoilet‐visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy. Further, the thermoelectric device (Cu/PPBI/Cu) and the thermo‐electric performance of the materials have been fabricated, such as thermal conductivity, Seebeck coefficient (27.22 μV K −1 ), power factor (3.28 μWm −1 K −2 ), and figure of merit (6.975 × 10 −3 ) were evaluated at ambient and varying temperatures. The excellent thermoelectric performance of PPBI suggests its use as an active material for thermoelectric device fabrication.