Synergistic thermoelectric enhancement enabled by metalated porphyrin-pyrene porous organic polymer/carbon nanotube composites
Journal
Chemical Engineering Journal
Journal Volume
532
Start Page
174335
ISSN
13858947
Date Issued
2026-03-15
Author(s)
Abstract
Porous organic polymers (POPs), characterized by intrinsic porosity, structural tunability, and low thermal conductivity, offer promising potential for thermoelectric (TE) applications. Herein, a porphyrin-pyrene-based POP (Por-Py POP) is designed to integrate the extended π-conjugation and metal-coordination capability of porphyrins with the planar π-rich architecture of pyrene, thereby promoting charge transport. Post-synthetic metalation with Fe2+, Cu2+, or Zn2+ further introduces dπ-π orbital interactions, thereby strengthening the interfacial coupling with single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and facilitating efficient charge transfer. Among the resulting composites, the ZnPor-Py POP/CNT exhibits a power factor (PF) of 55.8 ± 6.3 μW m−1 K−2, which represents a 40% improvement over the non-metalated analogue and is attributed to an enhanced electrical conductivity (σ) via dπ-π orbital interactions. Meanwhile, the porous POP framework contributes to suppressing lattice thermal transport relative to pristine CNTs, resulting in a thermal conductivity (κ) of 8.8 ± 0.2 W m−1 K−1 for the ZnPor-Py POP/CNT composite and an improved figure of merit (zT) of 1.89 × 10−3 ± 0.22 × 10−3 at 300 K, corresponding to a 8.6% enhancement over pristine CNTs. Overall, this work demonstrates a synergetic design strategy that combines metal coordination for σ enhancement and porous frameworks for κ suppression, thus providing a versatile pathway toward next-generation high-performance porous composite TE materials.
Subjects
Carbon nanotubes
Composite
Metal coordination
Porous organic polymers
Porphyrin
Thermoelectric
Publisher
Elsevier B.V.
Type
journal article