Study on the thermoelectric properties of PVDF/MWCNT and PVDF/GNP composite foam

Thermoelectric effect is defined as the revisable translation between thermal and electrical energy. In this paper, we investigate the properties of p-type poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) based polymer composite foams that can be used in next generation energy harvesting applications. The composites were created using the continuous melt blending method. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nano-platelets (GNPs) were used as secondary phases to strengthen the electrical conductivity of the composites. Foam structures were later generated using the super-critical carbon dioxide saturation method. We study the material properties between solid and foam samples; the results indicate a dramatic increase in overall thermoelectric properties for GNP foamed samples. We also report at least an order decrease in thermal conductivity, which is in favor of the thermoelectric effect. An unexpected drop in electrical conductivity was observed after the foaming process and can be explained by the large volumetric expansion of the foam. Finally, we report the Seebeck coefficient for both types of composite foams: 11 μ V/K for 5 wt% MWCNT/PVDF foam and 58 μ V/K for 15 wt% GNP/PVDF foam.