Enhanced thermoelectric properties of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): Poly(styrenesulfonate)/copper phthalocyanine disulfonic acid composite films

A series of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate)/copper phthalocyanine disulfonic acid (PEDOT: PSS/CuPc-[SO3H](2)) composite films were prepared by using CuPc-(SO3H)(2) as the dopant. EG treatment was applied to further improve the thermoelectric properties of PEDOT: PSS/CuPc-(SO3H)(2) composites. Structural analyses indicated the strong pi - pi interactions existed between PEDOT: PSS and CuPc-(SO3H)(2), and led to more ordered regions in the composite films, and benefit the conductivity. CuPc-(SO3H)(2) can greatly improve the thermoelectric properties of PEDOT: PSS/CuPc-(SO3H)(2) composite films, which have a Seebeck coefficient of 13.2 mu V K-1 and a conductivity of 2.8 x 10(5) S/m with 20 wt% CuPc-(SO3H)(2) at room temperature, and the corresponding power factor is 48.8 mu W m(-1) K-2, which is almost 6.83 times higher than the PEDOT: PSS films without CuPc-(SO3H)(2).