The p-type properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in organic thermoelectric devices need urgent improvement for large-scale, low-grade thermal energy applications. Here, we present a suitable approach to significantly enhance the power factor (PF) by increasing the electrical conductivity through the low-temperature calcination-induced pyrolysis of the insulating γ-cyclodextrin polymer (PγCyD), which is used as a solubilizer of film-like CNTs. The low-temperature calcination method, which can be used to realize good electrical contact between CNT bundles, shows enhancement behavior as a universal phenomenon for not only PγCyD but also other commonly used polymers for CNT films. To moderate the calcination temperature, the Pd catalyst was added, and the optimal temperature was reduced from 340 °C to 250 °C. Consequently, the PF value of the CNT film was 570 μW m⁻¹ K⁻², which was found to be more than twice that of the original CNT film. In addition, we demonstrated the energy harvesting capability of a thermoelectric generator based on this p-type CNT film; a thermoelectric generator with 10 p-type thermoelectric elements showed a maximum power output of 10.3 μW with a temperature difference of 75 °C, which is comparable to the maximum power output of some of the best single-component organic thermoelectric devices demonstrated to date. This outstanding output power shows that easy-to-handle CNT films with low-temperature heat treatment can open new avenues for the development of thermoelectric generators.

中文翻译：

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在含环糊精聚合物和 Pd 的碳纳米管热电薄膜中通过低温煅烧提高 p 型热电功率因数

有机热电器件中碳纳米管 (CNT) 的 p 型特性需要紧急改进以用于大规模、低等级的热能应用。在这里，我们提出了一种合适的方法，通过低温煅烧诱导绝缘 γ-环糊精聚合物 (PγCyD) 的热解来提高电导率，从而显着提高功率因数 (PF)，该聚合物用作薄膜的增溶剂。像碳纳米管。低温煅烧方法可用于实现 CNT 束之间的良好电接触，其增强行为不仅适用于 PγCyD，也适用于其他常用的 CNT 薄膜聚合物。为了调节煅烧温度，加入了 Pd 催化剂，并将最佳温度从 340 °C 降低到 250 °C。最后， μ W m ^-1  K ^-2，发现是原始CNT膜的两倍多。此外，我们展示了基于这种 p 型 CNT 薄膜的热电发电机的能量收集能力；具有 10 个 p 型热电元件的热电发电机在 75°C 的温差下显示出 10.3 μW的最大功率输出 ，这与迄今为止展示的一些最佳单组分有机热电器件的最大功率输出相当. 这种出色的输出功率表明，易于处理的具有低温热处理的 CNT 薄膜可以为热电发电机的开发开辟新的途径。