High-Performance Organic Thermoelectric Materials by Shifting up The Fermi Level

Organic thermoelectric materials are regarded as the next-generation thermoelectric materials because of their merits including low cost, high mechanical flexibility, and low intrinsic thermal conductivity. However, their Seebeck coefficient is usually quite low, which is lower than their inorganic counterpart by 1-2 orders in magnitude. Here, I will report a new strategy to greatly enhance the Seebeck coefficient of organic thermoelectric materials. This can shift up the Fermi level and thus increase the Seebeck coefficient, while it only slightly lowers the electrical conductivity. As a result, the orgnaic thermoelectric materials can exhibit high Seebeck coefficient and high electrical conductivity.