Themed collection Thermoelectric energy conversion

This perspective defines quantitative ‘target design windows’ for contact resistivity and shear strength, mapping four dominant strategies to guide the transition from empirical metallization to engineered reliability.

This review highlights the progress in phase diagram engineering and microstructural design in Te based multiphase alloys.

Post-growth annealing suppresses defect-driven instability in Li-doped Mg₂Sn epitaxial thin films, increasing mobility and power factor. Stable p-type transport translates to improved micro-TE device output.

Co doping suppresses Ag₂Te formation in AgSbTe₂ and creates an impurity band above the valence edge. Besides, multiscale defects enhance phonon scattering, reduce thermal conductivity, and deliver a peak figure of merit of 1.6 at 648 K.

Cation-sublattice disorder engineered by CdTe alloying governs phonon transport in CuInTe₂ through the synergistic effects of defect scattering and lattice softening.

Achieving both deformability and high efficiency in thermoelectric materials (TEs) remains challenging, as most high-performance TEs are inherently brittle and rely on toxic tellurium.

Wearable thermoelectric devices (WTEDs) have garnered significant interest for applications in personal thermal management and energy harvesting from the human body.

Four-phonon scattering and multi-valley characteristics induce promising high thermoelectric performance in TlAgSe for both p-type and n-type doping.

New Zintl compound Eu₁₄GaAs₁₁ shows ultra-low thermal conductivity and a high Seebeck coefficient due to its complex structure, indicating potential for further optimization to enhance thermoelectric performance.

A brilliant ZT of 1.35 at 723 K and a conversion efficiency of 5.5% are achieved in Pb alloyed GeSe ingots.

The present study highlights the prospects of thermopower tunability in hybrid α-MgAgSb blended polyaniline:CSA flexible films by elucidating and utilizing energy filtering, anisotropic structural response and charge localization effects.

Sulphur deficiency in colusite results in the formation of interstitial defects within the sphalerite-like framework, thereby leading to enhanced thermoelectric performance.

Herein, a sustainable composite fiber is developed by bio-based polymer poly(butylene furanoate) (PBF) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) via wet spinning, enabling a wearable thermoelectric generator with a voltage of 1.5 mV on human wrist.

The development of high-performance and eco-friendly thermoelectric materials is crucial for sustainable energy conversion.

High-pressure torsion is used to attain grain refinement and introduce dense dislocations in BiCuSeO. The effect of HPT reduces the bandgap, increases carrier concentration and reduces κ to improve thermoelectric performance of BiCuSeO.

Insertion of crystal defects (dislocations, point defects and lattice distortion) plays a crucial role in thermoelectric/optical properties and can be controlled in thin films of the narrow-band-gap semiconductor ScN.

Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching (MACE) using Ag enables the fabrication of vertically aligned crystalline silicon nanopillars (SiNPs) with high aspect ratios over a wide doping range, a system highly promising for thermoelectric applications.

Lead-free Cs₂TiCl₆ is introduced as a novel dopant for n-type SnSe, which simultaneously improves electronic properties and introduces multi-scale defects, achieving a high ZT of ∼1.2 at 823 K and providing a sustainable doping strategy.

The high-throughput experimental exploration of 90 DHH/THH compositions was conducted. MgV₂Co₃Sb₃ showed a zT of over 0.7 at 900 K, indicating the effectiveness of the high-throughput experiment to explore new compositions for functional materials.

Through surface aluminization, an in situ dense aluminide coating formed as an effective diffusion barrier against oxygen penetration for Nb_0.86Hf_0.14FeSb, which improves the feasibility and thermal stability of its practical applications.

This study demonstrates that alloying with AgSbTe₂ enhances the symmetry of the crystal structure of Ge_0.81Mn_0.15Bi_0.04Te, while simultaneously improving the thermoelectric performance and mechanical properties.

Dual optimization in weighted mobility and lattice thermal conductivity by Sb doping and Se alloying, thereby leading to a high ZT value of 0.78 in ternary PbBi₂S₄.

Reproducible synthesis of α-MgAgSb enables Te-free thermoelectrics with zT = 0.84 at room temperature and 1.3 at 500 K, achieved via optimized mobility, phase purity, and annealing-driven stability.

Grain boundary engineering enables high thermoelectric performance in polycrystalline SnS by synergistically reducing lattice thermal conductivity through mass transport and enhancing carrier mobility via grain growth promotion.