Transport and thermoelectric properties of polyaniline/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites

Polyanilines (PANI)/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanocomposites are chemically synthesized. Their structure and morphology are characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopies, x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. In addition, the nanocomposites’ electrical, thermal and thermoelectric (TE) transport characteristics are investigated as a function of RGO content. The power factor and figure of merit (ZT) of PANI/RGO hybrids are deduced from measurements of the electrical conductivity ( σ ), Seebeck coefficient ( α ) and thermal conductivity ( κ ). Experimental results reveal that the properties of PANI/RGO composites are inherently dependent on the volume fraction of RGO. It is observed that electrical percolation follows a 2D conduction process which takes place for samples having 0.099 vol% RGO content. Unlike electrical conductivity, the thermal conductivity of PANI/RGO increases only slightly with the RGO fraction and is successfully fitted u...

Rakibul Islam, Roch Chan-Yu-King, Jean-François Brun, Carole Gors, Ahmed Addad, Michael Depriester, Abdelhak Hadj-Sahraoui and Frederick Roussel

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