Fuente: Journal of applied polymer Lugar: RESEARCH ARTICLE Flexible composite thin film for thermoelectric devices.

ABSTRACT
This article demonstrates the thermoelectric properties of ZnO nanorods (NRs)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) composites films on a flexible ITO substrate. Compact ZnO thin films and ZnO NRs have been grown by the cost-effective sol–gel method. The thermoelectric properties of both films have been investigated along with thermophysical characteristics. X-ray diffraction reveals the hexagonal wurtzite growth of ZnO nanostructures. The temperature-dependent thermal characteristics for both composites have been investigated through the transient plane source method in the temperature range of 303–353 K. The thermal conductivity of the compact ZnO/PEDOT:PSS composite is found to be in the range of 1.30–1.33 W/mK, whereas a significant enhancement in thermal conductivity is observed in the ZnO NRs/PEDOT:PSS composite film, which is attributed to phonon scattering and interfacial transport through vertically aligned nanorods. Compared with earlier ZnO-polymer composites reported in the literature, this work highlights the unique influence of ZnO NRs/PEDOT:PSS morphology on thermoelectric behavior in flexible films. Our study reveals that these composites could be beneficial for low-temperature waste heat management devices.