Thermoelectric materials produced from single-wall carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Thermoelectric (TE)-based energy harvesting is an important aspect of modern and future power-generation technologies used to drive different types of sensors and wireless communication devices. Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), with a narrow bandgap energy and high charge-carrier mobility, are promising TE materials. They can be integrated into flexible TEs that can be used to recover waste heat. The recent development of TE materials based on SWCNTs is described. Sorting the SWCNTs into different structures to elucidate structure-property relationships, and chemical doping to change the TE properties are the major challenges in this field. Chemical techniques that address these issues have enabled the development of CNT-based thermoelectric generators.