Tunable in-plane thermal conductivity of a single PEDOT:PSS nanotube

• Published in: Nanoscale 2020-04, Vol.12 (16), p.871-875
• Main Authors: Lee, Hye Jeong, Shin, Hosun, Anoop, Gopinathan, Yoo, Tae Jin, So, Soonsung, Ryu, Jeongjae, Lee, Byoung Hun, Song, Jae Yong, Lee, Eunji, Hong, Seungbum, Lee, Joo-Hyoung, Jo, Ji Young
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Conducting polymers; Electronic devices; Energy conversion efficiency; Energy transfer; Heat conductivity; Heat transfer; Nanotubes; Polystyrene resins; Sulfuric acid; Thermal conductivity; Thermal energy; Transport
• ISSN: 2040-3364; 2040-3372
• DOI: 10.1039/d0nr00215a

Understanding the mechanism of thermal energy transport in a single nanotube (NT) is essential for successfully engineering nanostructured conducting polymers to apply to thermoelectrics or flexible electronic devices. We report the characterization of the in-plane thermal energy transport in a single poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) NT via direct measurement of the in-plane thermal conductivity ( κ ). We also demonstrate that the in-plane κ of PEDOT:PSS NT can be tuned within the range of 0.19 to 1.92 W·m −1 ·K −1 merely by changing the solvent used to treat the NTs in the post-fabrication stage. The in-plane thermal energy transport in a pristine NT, with its low in-plane κ , is primarily due to phonons; in a sulfuric acid-treated NT however, significant electronic contributions lead to a high in-plane κ . The present study will contribute to understanding the mechanism of thermal energy transport in highly disordered structures, such as conducting polymers, and to designing highly efficient polymer-based devices in which in-plane κ plays a pivotal role in determining the energy conversion efficiency. A strategy to directly measure the in-plane thermal conductivity of PEDOT:PSS nanotube (NT) using a micro-device is presented. We tuned the in-plane thermal conductivity of PEDOT:PSS NT in a wide range between 0.19 to 1.92 W·m −1 ·K −1 .