Defect-tolerant electron and defect-sensitive phonon transport in quasi-2D conjugated coordination polymers.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40681485.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-61920-w and PMC identifier 12274412.
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Abstract
Thermoelectric materials, enabling direct waste-heat to electricity conversion, need to be highly electrically conducting while simultaneously thermally insulating. This is fundamentally challenging since electrical and thermal conduction usually change in tandem. In quasi-two-dimensional conjugated coordination polymer films we discover an advantageous thermoelectric transport regime, in which charge transport is defect-tolerant but heat propagation is defect-sensitive; it imparts the ideal mix of antithetical properties-temperature-activated, exceptionally low lattice thermal conductivities of 0.2 W m<sup>-1</sup> K<sup>-1</sup> below Kittel's limit originating from small-amplitude, quasi-harmonic lattice dynamics with disorder-limited lifetimes and vibrational scattering length on the order of interatomic spacing, and high electrical conductivities up to 2000 S cm<sup>-1</sup> with metallic temperature dependence, notably in poorly crystalline structures with paracrystallinity >10%. These materials offer attractive properties, such as ease of processing and defect tolerance, for applications, that require fast charge, but slow heat transport.