Dual-action carbon quantum dots with light assist in enhancing the thermoelectric performance of polymers

Abstract

As an inexhaustible energy source, the effective utilization of photothermal (PT) is of great significance to the current development of green energy. Although PT can realize the conversion of electrical energy based on the photothermoelectric (PTE) effect, the conversion efficiency of this energy harvesting technology is simultaneously limited by the PT and thermoelectric (TE) performances of the material. Therefore, both good PT and TE performances are the key to realize the PTE conversion of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). Herein, we propose an efficient strategy that utilizes carbon quantum dots (CQDs) to achieve efficient improvement of the TE performance of PEDOT:PSS. CQDs play a dual-action in enhancing the TE performance of PEDOT:PSS under illumination. On the one hand, the enhanced PT conversion performance of the films by CQDs can be attributed to the improvement of light absorption. On the other hand, CQDs were combined with PEDOT:PSS to achieve efficient filtering of low-energy carriers. This dual-action of CQDs provides a new idea for obtaining high-performance PTE materials.