Selectively tuning ionic thermopower in all-solid-state flexible polymer composites for thermal sensing

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Solid-State Chemistry
• Polymer Science

Background:

• Ionic thermoelectric materials offer significant ionic thermopower.
• Tuning thermopower in all-solid-state polymer electrolytes is challenging due to complex ion transport compared to gels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop all-solid-state polymer materials with tunable thermopower.
• To elucidate the atomic-scale mechanism of p-n conversion in ionic thermoelectric polymers.
• To fabricate a self-powered ionic thermoelectric thermal sensor.

Main Methods:

• Molecular dynamics simulations were used to analyze Eastman entropy changes.
• Development of novel all-solid-state polymer ionic thermoelectric materials.
• Fabrication and testing of a self-powered thermal sensor.

Main Results:

• Achieved a wide tunable thermopower range of +20 to -6 mV K⁻¹ in all-solid-state polymers.
• Revealed the fundamental mechanism of p-n conversion at the atomic scale.
• Demonstrated a high-sensitivity and durable self-powered ionic thermoelectric thermal sensor.

Conclusions:

• The developed materials and mechanism provide a general strategy for tuning ionic thermopower.
• This work advances the understanding of p-n conversion in ionic thermoelectric polymers.
• The fabricated sensor shows promising applications for ionic thermoelectric materials.