A novel cuprous ethylenetetrathiolate coordination polymer: Structure characterization, thermoelectric property optimization and a bulk thermogenerator demonstration

• Thermoelectric properties of Cu(I)-ethylenetetrathiolate were investigated.
• Thermoelectric properties of the complex were optimized by a simple method.
• Thermogenerator based on the material can power a liquid crystal display calculator.

A kind of bulk organic thermoelectric material namely Cu(I)-ethylenetetrathiolate was synthesized, and its thermoelectric properties were optimized using chemical oxidation and reduction. Both X-ray absorption fine structure and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques were used to characterize the complex. The material showed p-type property and the best thermoelectric properties were achieved with a power factor of 118.2 μW m−1 K−2 and a ZT of 0.060 at 400 K. A thermogenerator based on this material and n-type poly[Kx(Ni-ethylenetetrathiolate)] had an open voltage of 1.51 V and a short current of 2.71 mA under a temperature difference of 60 K. The maximum power output exceeded 1 mW, which is the best performance of the thermoelectric modules based on organic thermoelectric materials. The thermogenerator could power a liquid crystal display calculator, which shed light on the practical use of organic thermoelectric materials.

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