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Updated: May 25, 2026

A Simple and Scalable Fabrication Method for Organic Electronic Devices on Textiles
Published on: March 13, 2017
Printed organic conductive polymers thermocouples in textile and smart clothing applications
Trine M Seeberg1, Arne Røyset, Susannah Jahren
1SINTEF Informatics and Communication Technology, NO-0314 Oslo, Norway. trine.seeberg@sintef.no
Abstract:
This work reports on an experimental investigation of the potential of using selected commercially available organic conductive polymers as active ingredients in thermocouples printed on textiles. Poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(4 styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and polyaniline (PANI) were screen printed onto woven cotton textile. The influence of multiple thermocycles between 235 K (-38 °C) and 350 K (+77 °C) on resistivity and thermoelectric properties was examined. The Seebeck coefficients of PEDOT:PSS and PANI were found to be about +18 μV/K and +15 uV/K, respectively, when "metal-polymer" thermocouples were realized by combining the polymer with copper. When "polymer-polymer" thermocouples were formed by combining PEDOT:PSS and PANI, a thermoelectric voltage of about +10 μV/K was observed. A challenge recognized in the experiments is that the generated voltage exhibited drift and fluctuations.
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