Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 14, 2025
10:40
High Resolution Phonon-assisted Quasi-resonance Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Published on: June 28, 2016
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Defect-tolerant electron and defect-sensitive phonon transport in quasi-2D conjugated coordination polymers
Hio-Ieng Un1, Kamil Iwanowski2,3, Jordi Ferrer Orri4
1Optoelectronics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. hiu20@cam.ac.uk.
Nature Communications
|July 18, 2025
Summary
New thermoelectric materials convert waste heat to electricity. These quasi-two-dimensional conjugated coordination polymers exhibit defect-tolerant charge transport and defect-sensitive heat transport for efficient energy conversion.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Solid State Physics
- Energy Conversion
Background:
- Thermoelectric materials are crucial for waste-heat to electricity conversion.
- Achieving high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity simultaneously is a significant challenge.
- Conventional materials often exhibit coupled electrical and thermal transport properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discover novel thermoelectric materials with advantageous transport properties.
- To explore quasi-two-dimensional conjugated coordination polymer films for thermoelectric applications.
- To investigate the relationship between material structure and thermoelectric performance.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication and characterization of quasi-two-dimensional conjugated coordination polymer films.
- Measurement of electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity.
- Analysis of lattice dynamics and vibrational properties.
- Correlation of structural disorder (paracrystallinity) with transport properties.
Main Results:
- Discovery of a unique thermoelectric transport regime in these films.
- Achieved exceptionally low lattice thermal conductivities (0.2 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹) below Kittel's limit.
- Observed high electrical conductivities (up to 2000 S cm⁻¹) with metallic temperature dependence.
- Demonstrated that poorly crystalline structures with high paracrystallinity (>10%) enhance thermoelectric performance.
- Identified temperature-activated, low lattice thermal conductivity due to specific lattice dynamics and scattering mechanisms.
Conclusions:
- Quasi-two-dimensional conjugated coordination polymers offer an advantageous thermoelectric transport regime.
- These materials exhibit defect-tolerant charge transport and defect-sensitive heat transport.
- The materials possess ideal combinations of antithetical properties for efficient thermoelectric conversion.
- Ease of processing and defect tolerance make these materials promising for waste-heat energy harvesting applications.
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