Mg-based thermoelectric materials and devices: a review

Abstract

Mg-based thermoelectric (TE) materials have emerged as a prominent research area for mid-to-low temperature waste heat recovery and solid-state refrigeration, demonstrating significant application potential due to their advantages such as abundant resources, environmental friendliness, and low cost. However, their thermoelectric performance remains limited by the challenge of optimizing the balance between electrical transport properties and thermal conductivity regulation. Additionally, these materials face challenges related to insufficient stability and scalable fabrication for practical device applications. This review systematically examines the research progress of Mg-based TE materials, including Mg 2 (Si,Sn), Mg 3 (Sb,Bi) 2 , and MgAgSb. By synthesizing key research literature from the past decade, this review comprehensively analyzes core achievements in material design, performance regulation, and device development, employing methods of comparative analysis and inductive summary. The analysis reveals that at the material design level, component optimization and structural engineering effectively improve electrical transport properties. Furthermore, multi-element doping and microstructure engineering are key strategies to enhance the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT), while interface issues and packaging technologies in device integration represent primary bottlenecks limiting their practical applications. By comprehensively summarizing the performance optimization pathways, current device application status, and remaining challenges of Mg-based TE materials, this review not only provides a systematic theoretical and experimental reference for researchers in this field but also offers significant guidance for promoting their transition from laboratory research to practical engineering applications.