A new 3-D coordination polymer as a precursor for CuI-based thermoelectric composites.

Two complexes, [Cu6I6(L1)3]n (I) and [Cu4I4(L2)2]n (II) (L1 = 1,4-bis(phenylthio)but-2-yne; L2 = 1,4-bis(phenylthio)butane), as precursors for thermoelectric composites were prepared using a literature procedure. During the preparation of I, an unexpected 3-D polymorph [Cu4I4(L1)2]n (1) with a triclinic space group and an infinite [CuI]n staircase structure was obtained. This new polymorph (1) exhibited the same structure at both room temperature and 173 K. Complexes 1 and II were therefore pyrolysed to composites 2 and 3, respectively, at 400 °C under a nitrogen gas flow. Composite 3 was pale in color with a low carbon content (0.05 wt%) and easily disassembled during handling. By comparison, the high carbon containing (10.2 wt%) composite 2 can be compressed into a robust, light pellet (density 3.58 g cm-3), which showed a moderate to high Seebeck coefficient (543-1308 µV K-1) over the temperature range 70-240 °C.

A thermoelectric copper-iodide composite from the pyrolysis of a well-defined coordination polymer.

Coordination polymer 1 was prepared from CuI and a flexible [SNS] ligand L in acetonitrile. The thermal decomposition of 1 yielded a CuI-rich thermoelectric carbon composite 2, which is relatively light, thermally stable and robust. Composite 2 possesses high Seebeck coefficients (700-950 µV K-1) from rt to 204 °C after an optimization cycle.

Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of two-dimensional low-bandgap copolymers based on new benzothiadiazole derivatives with different conjugated arylvinylene side chains.

A new series of 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BT) acceptors with different conjugated aryl-vinylene side chains have been designed and used to build efficient low-bandgap (LBG) photovoltaic copolymers. Based on benzo[1,2-b:3,4-b']dithiophene and the resulting new BT derivatives, three two-dimensional (2D)-like donor (D)-acceptor (A) conjugated copolymers have been synthesised by Stille coupling polymerisation. These copolymers were characterised by NMR spectroscopy, gel-permeation chromatography, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. UV/Vis absorption and cyclic voltammetry measurements indicated that their optical and electrochemical properties can be facilely modified by changing the structures of the conjugated aryl-vinylene side chains. The copolymer with phenyl-vinylene side chains exhibited the best light harvesting and smallest bandgap of the three copolymers. The basic electronic structures of D-A model compounds of these copolymers were also studied by DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory. Polymer solar cells (PSCs) with a typical structure of indium tin oxide (ITO)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS)/copolymer:[6,6]-phenyl-C(61) (C(71))-butyric acid-methyl ester (PCBM)/calcium (Ca)/aluminum (Al) were fabricated and measured under the illumination of AM1.5G at 100 mW cm(-2). The results showed that the device based on the copolymer with phenyl-vinylene side chains had the highest efficiency of 2.17 % with PC(71)BM as acceptor. The results presented herein indicate that all the prepared copolymers are promising candidates for roll-to-roll manufacturing of efficient PSCs. Suitable electronic, optical and photovoltaic properties of BT-based copolymers can also be achieved by fine-tuning the structures of the aryl-vinylene side chains for photovoltaic application.