Improvement of Thermoelectric Properties of PEDOT/PSS Films by Addition of Gold Nanoparticles: Enhancement of Seebeck Coefficient

Thermoelectric properties of hybrid films composed of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/PSS) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) stabilized with 3-mercaptopropinoic acid (Au-MPA NPs) and 6-mercaptohexanoic acid (Au-MHA NPs) were investigated. Several factors such as the size and content of the AuNPs, and the chain length of the NP stabilizer were found to influence the thermoelectric properties of the hybrid film. The Seebeck coefficient can be raised by varying the size of the Au-MPA NPs or the content of Au-MHA NPs. The enhancement in the Seebeck coefficient is suggested to be a result of reduced carrier concentration due to the increased number of AuNPs. This could be the first report on the fact that AuNPs enhance the Seebeck coefficient in PEDOT/PSS hybrid films.