Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are attractive materials for next-generation energy-harvesting technologies, including thermoelectric generators, due to their tunable opto-electronic properties and high charge carrier mobilities. Controlling the Fermi level within these unique 1D nanomaterials is often afforded by charge transfer interactions between SWCNTs and electron or hole accepting species. Conventional methods to dope SWCNT networks typically involve the diffusion of molecular redox dopant species into solid-state thin films, but solution-phase doping could potentially provide routes and/or benefits for charge carrier transport, scalability, and stability. Here, we develop a methodology for solution-phase doping of polymer-wrapped, highly enriched semiconducting SWCNTs using a p-type charge transfer dopant, F4TCNQ. This allows doped SWCNT inks to be cast into thin films without the need for additional post-deposition doping treatments. We demonstrate that the introduction of the dopant at varying stages of the SWCNT dispersion process impacts the ultimate thermoelectric performance and observe that the dopant alters the polymer selectivity for semiconducting vs metallic SWCNTs. In contrast to dense semiconducting polymer films, where solution-phase doping typically leads to disrupted morphologies and poorer TE performance than solid-state doping, thin films of solution-doped s-SWCNTs perform similarly to their solid-state doped counterparts. Interestingly, our results also suggest that solution-phase F4TCNQ doping leads to fully ionized and dimerized F4TCNQ anions in solid-state films that are not observed in films doped with F4TCNQ after deposition. Our results provide a framework for the application of solution-phase doping to a broad array of high-performance SWCNT-based thermoelectric materials and devices that may require high-throughput deposition techniques.
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Solution-phase p-type doping of highly enriched semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes for thermoelectric thin films
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12 July 2021
Research Article|
July 13 2021
Solution-phase p-type doping of highly enriched semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes for thermoelectric thin films
Special Collection:
Organic and Hybrid Thermoelectrics
Noah J. Stanton;
Noah J. Stanton
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
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Rachelle Ihly;
Rachelle Ihly
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
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Brenna Norton-Baker
;
Brenna Norton-Baker
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
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Andrew J. Ferguson
;
Andrew J. Ferguson
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
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Jeffrey L. Blackburn
Jeffrey L. Blackburn
a)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Note: This paper is part of the APL Special Collection on Organic and Hybrid Thermoelectrics.
Appl. Phys. Lett. 119, 023302 (2021)
Article history
Received:
May 03 2021
Accepted:
June 29 2021
Citation
Noah J. Stanton, Rachelle Ihly, Brenna Norton-Baker, Andrew J. Ferguson, Jeffrey L. Blackburn; Solution-phase p-type doping of highly enriched semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes for thermoelectric thin films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 12 July 2021; 119 (2): 023302. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0055837
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