The impact of fluorine incorporation on the performance of ferrocene-based polymer/SWCNTs composites

This study expands on our previous findings regarding the influence of conjugation and electron-withdrawing groups on the thermoelectric properties of composite materials. By retaining a ferrocene-based architecture and varying the conjugated groups, we further enhanced the diversity of ferrocenyl-based metallopolymers. Specifically, two new types of metallopolymers, Fc-Poly(a) and Fc-Poly(b), have been reported in this work. By incorporating larger conjugated groups into the 4-(methylideneferrocene)-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene backbone along with long alkyl chains, the metallopolymers exhibited promoted solubility. Combined measurements including thermoelectric tests, Raman spectra and theoretical calculations demonstrate that the introduction of fluorine atoms can enhance the thermoelectric performance, which endow the fluorine-containing Fc-Poly(b)/SWCNTs composite film a maximum power factor of 245.6 μW m⁻¹ K⁻².