Abstract
Due to poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate)
(PEDOT:PSS) is water-processable, thermally stable and highly
conductive, PEDOT:PSS and its composites have been considered to be one
of the most promising flexible thermoelectric materials. However, the
PEDOT:PSS film prepared from its commercial aqueous dispersion usually
has quite low conductivity, thus cannot be directly utilized for
thermoelectric applications. Here, a simple environmentally friendly
strategy via femtosecond laser irradiation without any chemical dopants
and treatments was demonstrated. Under optimal conditions, the
electrical conductivity of the treated film is increased to 803.1 S/cm
from 1.2 S/cm around three order of magnitude higher, and the power
factor is improved to 19.0
μW·m-1·K-2, which is enhanced more
than 200 times. The mechanism for such remarkable enhancement was
attributed to the transition of the PEDOT chains from a coil to a linear
or expanded coil conformation, reduction of the interplanar stacking
distance, and the removal of insulating PSS with increasing the
oxidation level of PEDOT, facilitating the charge transportation. This
work presents an effective route for fabricating high-performance
flexible conductive polymer films and wearable thermoelectric devices.