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Thermoelectric and power generation properties of epoxy/SWCNT nanocomposite above and below room temperature

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Abstract

Scalable thermoelectric (TE) materials are of great importance for their practical applications; however, the available TE materials lack this property, in addition to their high cost, toxicity, and limited operation below room temperature (RT). In this study, highly electrically conducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were used as a networking and electrical conductivity enhancer for the epoxy matrix to form scalable and high TE performance epoxy/SWCNT nanocomposite sheet at different SWCNT loadings within the range of 2–5 wt%. Then, the TE properties, including output power, were investigated below and above RT. The Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity were measured in the temperature range 213–363 K. The corresponding power generation was also assessed at ΔT = 25, 45, and 65 K below and above RT conditions. The nanocomposite containing 4 wt% of SWCNT exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, recording 7.51 S m−1 at 213 K and 9.18 S m−1 at 363 K. The corresponding Seebeck coefficient values recorded – 66 µV K−1 at 213 K and – 91 µV K−1 at 363 K. The measured power output by a small leg module above RT reached 6.20, 11.18, and 18.0 nW at ΔT = 25, 45, and 65 K, respectively. Notably, measurements below RT showed nearly double the power output. This indicates that the epoxy/SWCNT nanocomposite is a promising TE material at low temperatures, making it a promising candidate for power generation in cold environments.

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  • Electronic Materials
  • Nanocomposites
  • Nanomaterial
  • Thermoelectrics
  • Carbon Nanotubes and Fullerenes
  • Materials Engineering

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Funding

This scientific paper is derived from a research grant funded by the Research, Development, and Innovation “Authority (RDIA)—Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—with Grant number (12965-kau-2023-KAU-R-3-1-SE-).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, 21589, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Iswadi Ibrahim Patunrengi & Ahmed Alshahrie

  2. Center of Nanotechnology, King Abdulaziz University, 21589, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Iswadi Ibrahim Patunrengi, Shittu Abdullahi, Ahmed Alshahrie & Numan Salah

  3. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Alauddin State Islamic University, Makassar, 92118, Indonesia

    Iswadi Ibrahim Patunrengi

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, 11942, Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia

    Mutabe Aljaghtham

Contributions

Iswadi Ibrahim Patunrengi: Writing—original draft, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation. Abdulahi Sittu: Data curation, Validation, Formal analysis. Mutabe Aljaghtham: Validation, Formal analysis, Resources. Ahmed Alshahrie: Supervision, Resources. Numan Salah: Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Writing—review and editing, Resources.

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Correspondence to Numan Salah.

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Patunrengi, I.I., Abdullahi, S., Aljaghtham, M. et al. Thermoelectric and power generation properties of epoxy/SWCNT nanocomposite above and below room temperature. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 36, 1230 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-025-15351-4

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