The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Transpiration-driven electrokinetic power generators (TEPGs) produce sustained streaming potential by utilizing the asymmetric wetting properties of porous cellulose textiles to induce an electrical double layer. To enable simultaneous ionic and electronic conductivity, we functionalized textile substrates using sequentially doped conjugated polymer films. For the active layer, poly(2,5-bis(3-tetradecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene) was employed as a model p-type conjugated polymer, and the effect of dopant selection on device performance was systematically examined. Furthermore, we demonstrated that controlling the number of polymer layers leads to enhanced power generation capabilities. Among the configurations tested, the 2-layer AuCl₃-doped device exhibited the highest performance, producing a maximum V_oc of 0.5 V and a I_sc of 180 µA, corresponding to a power output of 22.5 µW. This study provides a guideline for designing high-performance TEPG using conjugated polymers.