Synthesis and characterization of polydopamine-derived carbon materials with enhanced thermoelectric performance

Pyrolysis of mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) can yield carbon material with high electrical conductivity and n-type semiconductor performance. Investigating the relationship between the structure and the thermoelectric properties of carbonized PDA (cPDA) is therefore highly desired. In this work, a series of cPDA annealed at 800°C has been successfully prepared by adjusting the concentration of dopamine (DA) monomers, which had a significant effect on the shape and size of cPDA nanoparticles and their thermoelectric properties. Structural analyses indicate that cPDA are mainly amorphous with some graphite like structure and short-range ordering. The electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient show different trends with the concentration of DA monomers. The largest room-temperature power factor of 26.15 μW m −1 K −2 was obtained on cPDA when the concentration of DA was 13.12 mM with a conductivity of 28,493 S m −1 and a Seebeck coefficient of −9.58 μV K −1 .