Effect of SrTiO3 Nanoparticles in Conductive Polymer on the Thermoelectric Performance for Efficient Thermoelectrics

We present hybrid organic inorganic materials, namely, SrTiO3/polyaniline (PANI) composites, with high thermoelectric performance; samples with various SrTiO3 contents (10, 20, 30, and 50 wt.%) were prepared. The PANI component was obtained through the polymerization of aniline monomers, followed by camphosulfonic acid-doping to enhance its electrical conductivity. SrTiO3, with a high Seebeck coefficient, was used as the N-type inorganic componenet; it was synthesized via a one-pot solvothermal methods and, then, dispersed into the conductive PANI matrix. The SrTiO3 content influenced the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity of the resulting composites. The variations in the thermoelectric properties of the SrTiO3/PANI composites consequently changed their power factor; at room temperature, the highest value was ~49.6 μW·m/K2, which is 17 times larger than that of pure PANI.