Tuning the electral conductivity of an n-type organic semiconductor by means of solution doping for thermoeletric applications

Abstract

Organic thermoelectric devices are composed of conductive polymers capable of converting thermal energy into electrical energy, and vice versa, through Seebeck and Peltier Effects. Organic doping is one of the most important approaches used to improve and tune the electrical properties of polymers, especially N-type organic semiconductors, which are known to be the obstacle to improve the performance of thermoelectric devices, since their performance lags behind when compared to the Ptype semiconductor polymers due to their inefficient doping process. Systems using Poly { [ N , N′ - bis ( 2 – octyldodecyl ) – naphthalene – 1 , 4 , 5 , 8 - bis(dicarboximide)- 2,6-diyl]-alt-5,5′-(2,2′-bithiophene) P(NDI2OD-T2), also known as N2200, as the host material, have been extensively investigated with 4 - ( 1 , 3 - Dimethyl - 2 , 3 - dihydro - 1 H - benzoimidazol - 2 - yl ) phenyl) dimethylamine (NDMBI), Mesitylene pentamethylcyclopentadienyl ruthenium dimer ((RuCp*mes)2), 4 - ( 1 , 3 - Dimethyl - 2 , 3 - dihydro - 1H - benzoimidazol - 2 – yl)-N,N-diphenylaniline (DPBI), Tetrabutilamonium fluoride hydrate (TBAF), among others, but nothing has been reported about the interaction of the NDMBI dimer with the P(NDI2OD-T2). Given this, the present work aimed to investigate the effect of the concentration increase of (NDMBI)2 in the N2200 used as a matrix, mainly evaluating the impact on the electrical conductivity and on the morphology of the produced film. The characterizations used in this study were Visible ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV-vis), Electronic Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (EPR), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Kelvin Probe Microscopy (KPM), two-point probe station and the Thin Film Analyzer (TFA) from Linseis. The electrical characterizations were able to measure a 4 orders increase in the electrical conductivity for the 20% doped N2200-dimer sample when compared to the neat material N2200 and slightly doped samples. The Seebeck coefficient for the 10% doped sample was -80 uV/K and for the 20% was -66 uV/K at 30ºC. The AFM and the KPM helped to better understand the morphology and miscibility of the dopant in the host material.