Brønsted Acid Doping Enhances Thermoelectric Performance of Polymer‐Carbon Nanotube Composites for Flexible Energy Harvesting

ABSTRACT Organic thermoelectric materials are promising for flexible waste‐heat recovery, yet their inherently low electrical conductivity restricts practical use. Here, we demonstrate significant performance enhancement via chemical doping of PJ71 conjugated polymer‐wrapped single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The donor‐acceptor polymer PJ71 effectively disperses SWCNTs while preserving their intrinsic electrical characteristics, achieving optimal performance at 50 wt.% SWCNT loading with conductivity (σ ) = 386 S cm −1 and Seebeck coefficient ( S ) = 33 µV K −1 . Chemical doping with tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (BCF) through a Brønsted acid mechanism boosts σ to 1196 S cm −1 while retaining S = 26 ± 2 µV K −1 . The optimized composite exhibits a peak power factor of 125 µW m −1 K −2 at 434 K, approximately twice that of the undoped film. Flexible thermoelectric generators fabricated from these materials deliver 20 mV open‐circuit voltage at ΔT = 100 K and maintain stable output over 500 bending cycles. These results establish an efficient molecular‐doping strategy for scalable, high‐performance organic thermoelectrics suitable for flexible energy harvesting.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Materials Technologies
Published
2026-01-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202502413
Primary Topic
Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Brønsted Acid Doping Enhances Thermoelectric Performance of Polymer‐Carbon Nanotube Composites for Flexible Energy Harvesting

Neethi Raveendran, RIYA MARTIN, Chakkooth Vijayakumar, Navin Jacob et al.
Advanced Materials Technologies
Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
article

Brønsted Acid Doping Enhances Thermoelectric Performance of Polymer‐Carbon Nanotube Composites for Flexible Energy Harvesting

Neethi Raveendran, RIYA MARTIN, Chakkooth Vijayakumar, Navin Jacob, Biswapriya Deb, Ignatious Vijitha, Ramachandran Sachu Abhirami
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Organic thermoelectric materials are promising for flexible waste‐heat recovery, yet their inherently low electrical conductivity restricts practical use. Here, we demonstrate significant performance enhancement via chemical doping of PJ71 conjugated polymer‐wrapped single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The donor‐acceptor polymer PJ71 effectively disperses SWCNTs while preserving their intrinsic electrical characteristics, achieving optimal performance at 50 wt.% SWCNT loading with conductivity (σ ) = 386 S cm −1 and Seebeck coefficient ( S ) = 33 µV K −1 . Chemical doping with tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (BCF) through a Brønsted acid mechanism boosts σ to 1196 S cm −1 while retaining S = 26 ± 2 µV K −1 . The optimized composite exhibits a peak power factor of 125 µW m −1 K −2 at 434 K, approximately twice that of the undoped film. Flexible thermoelectric generators fabricated from these materials deliver 20 mV open‐circuit voltage at ΔT = 100 K and maintain stable output over 500 bending cycles. These results establish an efficient molecular‐doping strategy for scalable, high‐performance organic thermoelectrics suitable for flexible energy harvesting.

Advanced Materials Technologies
National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (IN), Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (IN)
Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, India, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 78%
Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.