Influence of Portland cement and alkali-activated slag binder on the thermoelectric properties of the p-type composites with MWCNT

[Display omitted] •The thermoelectric properties of p-type cementitious composites with CNT were studied.•The Portland cement and alkali-activated slag materials were considered as binder materials.•The various contents of MWCNT was utilized as the conductive filler.•This is the first study on thermoelectric research of proposed cementitious composites. Herein, we introduce p-type thermoelectric materials composed of Portland cement (PC) and slag-based alkali-activated cement (AAC) composites containing multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT). Numerous characteristics related to the thermoelectric properties, in this case the electrical conductivity, compressive strength, thermal conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and power factor of composites composed of two types of binders, were investigated, and various physicochemical properties were analyzed to determine their enhancement mechanisms. Based on the initial test results, MWCNT-embedded AAC composites were found to be feasible as a thermoelectric material, and an AAC thermoelectric module containing 2.0 wt% MWCNT was therefore additionally fabricated. The AAC-based thermoelectric module was tested with regard to its energy-harvesting performance, with the result confirming that the module was capable of generating electrical power.