Abstract
Direct conversion of heat into electricity through advanced thermoelectric (TE) materials has been one of the most attractive solutions to the severe environmental and energy issues facing humanity. In recent years, great progress has been made in improving their dimensionless figure of merit (ZT), which determines the conversion efficiency of TE devices. ZT is related to three “interlocked” factors—the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity. These three factors are interdependent in bulk TE materials, and altering one changes the other two. The difficulty in simultaneously optimizing them caused TE research to stagnate, until great reductions in thermal conductivity were both theoretically and experimentally proven in nanomaterials in 1993. In this review, we first introduce some TE fundamentals and then review the most recently improvements in ZT in different kinds of inorganic and organic TE materials, which is followed by an investigation of the outlook for new directions in TE technology.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bell LE (2008) Cooling, heating, generating power, and recovering waste heat with thermoelectric systems. Science 321:1457–1461
Shakouri A, Zebarjadi M, Volz S (eds) (2009) Thermal nanosystems and nanomaterials. Springer, Heidelberg
Kraemer D, Poudel B, Feng HP et al (2011) High-performance flat-panel solar thermoelectric generators with high thermal concentration. Nat Mater 10:532–538
Loffe AF (1960) Physics of semiconductors. Academic Press, New York
Majumdar A (2004) Thermoelectricity in semiconductor nanostructures. Science 303:777–778
Pichanusakorn P, Bandaru P (2010) Nanostructured thermoelectrics. Mater Sci Eng 67:19–63
Shakouri A (2011) Recent developments in semiconductor thermoelectric physics and materials. Annu Rev Mater Res 41:399–431
Snyder GJ, Toberer ES (2008) Complex thermoelectric materials. Nat Mater 7:105–114
Heremans JP, Jovovic V, Toberer ES et al (2008) Enhancement of thermoelectric efficiency in PbTe by distortion of the electronic density of states. Science 321:554–557
Liang WJ, Hochbaum AI, Fardy M et al (2009) Field-effect modulation of Seebeck coefficient in single PbSe nanowires. Nano Lett 9:1689–1693
Kittel C (2005) Introduction to solid state physics. Chemical Industry Press, Beijing
Slack GA, Rowe DM, Boca R (eds) (1995) Handbook of thermoelectrics. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Hicks LD, Dresselhaus M (1993) Figure of merit of a one-dimensional conductor. Phys Rev B 47:16631–16634
Hicks LD, Dresselhaus M (1993) Effect of quantum well structures on the thermoelectric figure of merit. Phys Rev B 47:12727–12731
Harman TC, Walsh MP, LaForge BE et al (2005) Nanostructured thermoelectric materials. J Electron Mater 34:L19–L22
He J, Liu YF (2011) Oxide thermoelectrics: the challenges, progress, and outlook. J Mater Res 26:1762–1772
Bubnova O, Crispin X (2012) Towards polymer-based organic thermoelectric generators. Energy Environ Sci 5:9345–9362
Rowe DM (1986) Recent developments in thermoelectric materials. Appl Energy 24:139–162
Sootsman JR, Chung DY, Kanatzidis MG (2009) New and old concepts in thermoelectric materials. Angew Chem Int Ed 48:8616–8639
Liu WS, Yan X, Chen G et al (2012) Recent advances in thermoelectric nanocomposites. Nano Energy 1:42–56
Li Z, Sun Q, Yao XD et al (2012) Semiconductor nanowires for thermoelectrics. J Mater Chem 22:22821–22831
Li Z, Kornowski A, Myalitsin A et al (2008) Formation and function of bismuth nanocatalysts for the solution–liquid–solid synthesis of CdSe nanowires. Small 4:1698–1702
Li Z, Kurtulus Ö, Nan F et al (2009) Controlled synthesis of CdSe nanowires by solution–liquid–solid method. Adv Funct Mater 19:3650–3661
Li Z, Cheng LN, Sun Q et al (2010) Diluted magnetic semiconductor nanowires prepared by the solution–liquid–solid method. Angew Chem Int Ed 49:2777–2781
Li Z, Ma X, Sun Q et al (2010) Synthesis and characterization of colloidal core–shell semiconductor nanowires. Eur J Inorg Chem 27:4325–4331
Li Z, Du AJ, Sun Q et al (2011) Cobalt-doped cadmium selenide colloidal nanowires. Chem Commun 47:11894–11896
Li Z, Du AJ, Sun Q et al (2012) Field-effect transistors fabricated from diluted magnetic semiconductor colloidal nanowires. Nanoscale 4:1263–1266
Wang YJ, Wilkinson DP, Zhang J (2011) Noncarbon support materials for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell electrocatalysts. Chem Rev 111:7625–7651
Gewirth AA, Thorum MS (2010) Electroreduction of dioxygen for fuel-cell applications: materials and challenges. Inorg Chem 49:3557–3566
Zhang GQ, Finefrock S, Liang DX et al (2011) Semiconductor nanostructure-based photovoltaic solar cells. Nanoscale 3:2430–2443
Gratzel M (2001) Photoelectrochemical cells. Nature 414:338–344
Tarascon JM, Armand M (2001) Issues and challenges facing rechargeable lithium batteries. Nature 414:359–367
Li H, Wang ZX, Chen LQ et al (2009) Research on advanced materials for Li-ion batteries. Adv Mater 21:4593–4607
Ikoma K, Munekiyo M, Furuya K et al (1999) Thermoelectric generator for gasoline engine vehicles using Bi2Te3 modules. J Jpn Inst Met 63:1475–1478
Lv HY, Liu HJ, Shi J et al (2013) Optimized thermoelectric performance of Bi2Te3 nanowires. J Mater Chem A 1:6831–6838
Tang XF, Xie WJ, Li H et al (2007) Preparation and thermoelectric transport properties of high-performance p-type Bi2Te3 with layered nanostructure. Appl Phys Lett 90:012102
Venkatasubramanian R, Siivola E, Colpitts T et al (2001) Thin-film thermoelectric devices with high room-temperature figures of merit. Nature 413:597–602
Harman TC, Taylor PJ, Walsh MP et al (2002) Quantum dot superlattice thermoelectric materials and devices. Science 297:2229–2232
Lalonde A, Pei YZ, Snyder GJ (2011) Reevaluation of PbTe1–x I x as high performance n-type thermoelectric material. Energy Environ Sci 4:2090–2096
Pei YZ, Lalonde A, Iwanaga S et al (2011) High thermoelectric figure of merit in heavy hole dominated PbTe. Energy Environ Sci 4:2085–2089
Pei YZ, Shi XY, Lalonde A et al (2011) Convergence of electronic bands for high performance bulk thermoelectrics. Nature 473:66–69
He JQ, Sootsman JR, Girard SN et al (2010) On the origin of increased phonon scattering in nanostructured PbTe based thermoelectric materials. J Am Chem Soc 132:8669–8675
Hsu KF, Loo S, Guo F et al (2004) Cubic AgPb m SbTe2+m : bulk thermoelectric materials with high figure of merit. Science 303:818–821
Poudeu PFP, D’Angel JJ, Downey AD et al (2006) High thermoelectric figure of merit and nanostructuring in bulk p-type Na1−x PbmSbyTe m+2. Angew Chem Int Ed 45:3835–3839
Biswas K, He JQ, Zhang QC et al (2011) Strained endotaxial nanostructures with high thermoelectric figure of merit. Nat Chem 3:160–166
Sootsman JR, Kong HJ, Uher C et al (2008) Large enhancements in the thermoelectric power factor of bulk PbTe at high temperature by synergistic nanostructuring. Angew Chem Int Ed 47:8618–8622
Pei YZ, Lensch-Falk J, Tobber ES et al (2011) High thermoelectric performance in PbTe due to large nanoscale Ag2Te precipitates and La doping. Adv Funct Mater 21:241–249
Ahn K, Han MK, He JQ et al (2010) Exploring resonance levels and nanostructuring in the PbTe–CdTe system and enhancement of the thermoelectric figure of merit. J Am Chem Soc 132:5227–5235
Androulakis J, Lin CH, Kong HJ et al (2007) Spinodal decomposition and nucleation and growth as a means to bulk nanostructured thermoelectrics: enhanced performance in Pb1−x Sn x Te–PbS. J Am Chem Soc 129:9780–9788
Kanishka B, He JQ, Ivan DB (2012) High-performance bulk thermoelectrics with all-scale hierarchical architectures. Nature 489:414–418
Ibanez M, Zamani R, Gorsse S et al (2013) Core-shell nanoparticles as building blocks for the bottom-up production of functional nanocomposites: pbTe–PbS thermoelectric properties. ACS Nano 7:2573–2586
Rogacheva EI, Tavrina TV, Nashchekina ON et al (2002) Quantum size effects in PbSe quantum wells. Appl Phys Lett 80:2690–2692
Wang H, Pei YZ, Lalonde AD et al (2011) Heavily doped p-type PbSe with high thermoelectric performance: an alternative for PbTe. Adv Mater 23:1366–1370
Zhang QY, Wang H, Liu WS et al (2012) Enhancement of thermoelectric figure-of-merit by resonant states of aluminium doping in lead selenide. Energy Environ Sci 5:5246–5251
Johnsen S, He JQ, Androulakis J et al (2011) Nanostructures boost the thermoelectric performance of PbS. J Am Chem Soc 133:3460–3470
Venkatasubramanian R, Siivola E, Colpitts T et al (2001) Thin-film thermoelectric devices with high room-temperature figures of merit. Nature 413:597–602
Poudel B, Hao Q, Ma Y et al (2008) High-thermoelectric performance of nanostructured bismuth antimony telluride bulk alloys. Science 320:634–638
Xie WJ, He J, Kang HJ et al (2010) Identifying the specific nanostructures responsible for the high thermoelectric performance of (Bi, Sb)2Te3 nanocomposites. Nano Lett 10:3283–3289
Liu WS, Zhang QY, Lan YC et al (2011) Thermoelectric property studies on Cu-doped n-type Cu x Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 nanocomposites. Adv Energy Mater 1:577–587
Ko DK, Kang YJ, Murray CB (2011) Enhanced thermopower via carrier energy filtering in solution-processable Pt–Sb2Te3 nanocomposites. Nano Lett 11:2841–2844
Liu DW, Li JF, Chen G et al (2011) Effects of SiC nanodispersion on the thermoelectric properties of p-type and n-type Bi2Te3-based alloys. J Electron Mater 40:992–998
Yan X, Poudel B, Ma Y et al (2010) Experimental studies on anisotropic thermoelectric properties and structures of n-type Bi2Te2·7Se0.3. Nano Lett 10:3373–3378
Ferdows A, Roger L (2010) Thermoelectric properties of Bi2Te3 atomic quintuple thin films. Appl Phys Lett 97:18078
Zhang GQ, Kirk B, Jauregui LA et al (2012) Rational synthesis of ultrathin n-type Bi2Te3 nanowires with enhanced thermoelectric properties. Nano Lett 12:56–60
Zhang GQ, Fang HY, Yang HR et al (2012) Design principle of telluride-based nanowire heterostructures for potential thermoelectric applications. Nano Lett 12:3627–3633
Li AH, Shahbazi M, Zhou SH et al (2010) Electronic structure and thermoelectric properties of Bi2Te3 crystals and graphene-doped Bi2Te3. Thin Solid Films 518:e57–e60
Liu HL, Shi X, Xu FF et al (2012) Copper ion liquid-like thermoelectrics. Nat Mater 11:422–425
Liu HL, Yuan X, Lu P et al (2013) Ultrahigh thermoelectric performance by electron and phonon critical scattering in Cu2Se1−x I x . Adv Mater 25:6607–6612
Zhu JJ, Palchik O, Chen SG et al (2000) Microwave assisted preparation of CdSe, PbSe, and Cu2–x Se nanoparticles. J Phys Chem B 104:7344–7347
Filippo E, Manno D, Serra A (2012) Synthesis and growth mechanism of dendritic Cu2–x Se microstructures. J Alloys Compd 538:8–10
Shen HB, Wang HZ, Yuan H et al (2012) Size-, shape-, and assembly-controlled synthesis of Cu2–x Se nanocrystals via a non-injection phosphine-free colloidal method. Cryst Eng Commun 14:555–560
Chen HH, Zou RJ, Wang N et al (2011) Lightly doped single crystalline porous Si nanowires with improved optical and electrical properties. J Mater Chem 21:3053–3059
Xiao C, Xu J, Li K et al (2012) Superionic phase transition in silver chalcogenide nanocrystals realizing optimized thermoelectric performance. J Am Chem Soc 134:4287–4293
Xiao C, Qin XM, Zhang J et al (2012) High thermoelectric and reversible p-n-p conduction type switching integrated in dimetal chalcogenide. J Am Chem Soc 134:18460–18466
Zhang Y, Hu CG, Zheng CH et al (2010) Synthesis and thermoelectric property of Cu2−x Se nanowires. J Phys Chem C 114:14849–14853
Terasaki I (2011) High-temperature oxide thermoelectrics. J Appl Phys 110:053705
Misture S, Edwards D (2012) High-temperature oxide thermoelectrics. Am Ceram Soc Bull 91:24–27
Noudem JG, Kenfaui D, Chateigner D et al (2011) Granular and lamellar thermoelectric oxides consolidated by spark plasma sintering. J Electron Mater 40:1100–1106
Ohta H, Kim SW, Mune Y et al (2007) Giant thermoelectric seebeck coefficient of a two-dimensional electron gas in SrTiO3. Nat Mater 6:129–134
Jood P, Mehta RJ, Zhan YL et al (2011) Al-doped zinc oxide nanocomposites with enhanced thermoelectric properties. Nano Lett 11:4337–4342
Li F, Li JF, Zhao LD et al (2012) Polycrystalline BiCuSeO oxide as a potential thermoelectric material. Energy Environ Sci 5:7188–7195
Li JF, Sui JH, Pei YL et al (2012) A high thermoelectric figure of merit ZT > 1 in Ba heavily doped BiCuSeO oxyselenides. Energy Environ Sci 5:8543–8547
Constantinescu G, Diez JC, Rasekh S et al (2013) New promising Co-free thermoelectric ceramic based on Ba–Fe-oxide. J Mater Sci 24:1832–1836
Hochbaum AI, Chen R, Delgado RD (2008) Enhanced thermoelectric performance of rough silicon nanowires. Nature 451:163–168
Akram IB, Yuri B, Jamil TK (2008) Silicon nanowires as efficient thermoelectric materials. Nature 451:168–171
Sabah KB, Richard GB, Pawan KG (2009) Nanostructured bulk silicon as an effective thermoelectric material. Adv Funct Mater 19:2445–2452
Lee JH, Galli GA, Grossman JC (2008) Nanoporous Si as an efficient thermoelectric material. Nano Lett 8:3750–3754
Yang CC, Li S (2011) Basic principles for rational design of high-performance nanostructured silicon-based thermoelectric materials. ChemPhysChem 12:3614–3618
Joshi G, Lee H, Lan YC et al (2008) Enhanced thermoelectric figure-of-merit in nanostructured p-type silicon germanium bulk alloys. Nano Lett 8:4670–4674
Wang XW, Lee H, Lan YC et al (2008) Enhanced thermoelectric figure of merit in nanostructured n-type silicon germanium bulk alloy. Appl Phys Lett 93:193121(1–4)
Lan YC, Minnich AJ, Chen G et al (2010) Enhancement of thermoelectric figure-of-merit by a bulk nanostructuring approach. Adv Funct Mater 20:357–376
Zhu GH, Pillitteri A, Dresselhaus MS et al (2009) Increased phonon scattering by nanograins and point defects in nanostructured silicon with a low concentration of germanium. Phys Rev Lett 102:196803
Yu B, Zebarjadi M, Wang H et al (2012) Enhancement of thermoelectric properties by modulation-doping in silicon germanium alloy nanocomposites. Nano Lett 12:2077–2082
Mingo N, Hauser D, Kobayashi NP et al (2009) “Nanoparticle-in-alloy” approach to efficient thermoelectrics: silicides in SiGe. Nano Lett 9:711–715
Lee EK, Hippalgaonkar K, Majumdar A et al (2012) Large thermoelectric figure-of-merits from SiGe nanowires by simultaneously measuring electrical and thermal transport properties. Nano Lett 12:2918–2923
Tritt TM (1996) Thermoelectrics run hot and cold. Science 272:1276–1277
Lee HJ, Cho YR, Kim IH (2011) Synthesis of thermoelectric Mg2Si by a solid state reaction. J Ceram Process Res 12:16–20
Nolas GS, Sharp J, Goldsmid HJ (2000) Thermoelectrics. Springer, Berlin
Ikeda T, Haviez L, Li YL et al (2012) Nanostructureing of thermoelectric Mg2Si via a nonequilibrium intermediate state. Small 8:2350–2355
Saravanan R, Charles RM (2009) Local structure of the thermoelectric material Mg2Si using XRD. J Alloys Compd 479:26–31
Vining CB, Rowe DM (eds) (1995) Handbook of thermoelectrics. CRC Press, New York
Massayasu A, Tsutomu I, Takashi N (2007) Non-wetting crystal growth of Mg2Si by vertical Bridgman method and thermoelectric characteristics. J Cryst Growth 304:196–201
Jiang HY, Long HS, Zhang LM (2004) Effects of solid-state reaction synthesis processing parameters on thermoelectric properties of Mg2Si. J Wuhan Univ Tech-Mater Sci Ed 19:55–56
Zhou SC, Bai CG (2011) Microwave direct synthesis and thermoelectric properties of Mg2Si by solid-state reaction. Trans Nonferr Met Soc China 21:1785–1789
You SW, Kim IH (2011) Solid-state synthesis and thermoelectric properties of Bi-doped Mg2Si compounds. Curr Appl Phys 11:S392–S395
Yang MJ, Zhang LM, Shen Q (2009) Nanostructuring and thermoelectric properties of bulk n-type Mg2Si. J Wuhan Univ Tech-Mater Sci Ed 24:912–916
Nikhil S, Daryoosh VT (2012) The effect of crystallite size on thermoelectric properties of bulk nanostructured magnesium silicide (Mg2Si) compounds. Appl Phys Lett 100:073107
Yang MJ, Shen Q, Zhang LM (2011) Effect of nanocomposite structure on the thermoelectric properties of 0.7-at% Bi-doped Mg2Si nanocomposite. China Phys B 20:106202
Yang MJ, Luo WJ, Shen Q et al (2009) Synthesis of Mg2Si nano composite and its thermoelectric properties. Rare Met Mater Eng S2:1055–1059
Zaitsev VK, Fedorov MI, Gurieva EA (2006) Highly effective Mg2Si1–xSn x thermoelectrics. Phys Rev B 74:045207
Noda Y, Kon H, Furukawa Y (1992) Preparation and thermoelectric properties of Mg2Si1−x Ge x (x = 0.0–0.4) solid solution semiconductors. Mater Trans 33:845–850
Zhao D, Tian C, Tang S et al (2010) High temperature oxidation behavior of cobalt triantimonide thermoelectric material. J Alloys Compd 504:552–558
Zhao D, Tian C, Tang S et al (2011) High temperature sublimation behavior of antimony in CoSb3 thermoelectric material during thermal duration test. J Alloys Compd 509:3166–3171
Hara R, Inoue S, Kaibe HT et al (2003) Aging effects of large-size n-type CoSb3 prepared by spark plasma sintering. J Alloys Compd 349:297–301
Donald IW (1993) Preparation, properties and chemistry of glass- and glass-ceramic-to-metal seals and coatings. J Mater Sci 28:2841–2886
Leszczynski J, Wojciechowski TK, Malecki AL (2011) Studies on thermal decomposition and oxidation of CoSb3. J Therm Anal Calorim 105:211–222
Sklad AC, Gaultois MW, Grosvenor AP (2010) Examination of CeFe4Sb12 upon exposure to air: is this material appropriate for use in terrestrial, high-temperature thermoelectric devices? J Alloys Compd 505:L6–L9
Mehrer H, Imre AW (2008) Diffusion and ionic conduction in oxide glasses. J Phys 106:012001
Shi X, Yang J, Salvador JR (2011) Multiple-filled skutterudites: high thermoelectric figure of merit through separately optimizing electrical and thermal transports. J Am Chem Soc 133:7837–7846
Rogl G, Aabdin Z, Schafler E et al (2012) Effect of HPT processing on the structure, thermoelectric and mechanical properties of Sr0.07Ba0.07Yb0.07Co4Sb12. J Alloys Compd 537:183–189
Christensen M, Johnsen S, Iversen BB (2010) Thermoelectric clathrates of type I. Dalton Trans 39:978–992
Saramat A, Svensson G, Palmqvist AE et al (2006) Large thermoelectric figure of merit at high temperature in Czochralski-grown clathrate Ba8Ga16Ge30. J Appl Phys 99:023708
Zintl E (1939) Intermetallische verbindungen. Angew Chem 52:1–6
Kauzlarich SM, Brown SR, Snyder GJ (2007) Zintl phases for thermoelectric devices. Dalton Trans 21:2099–2107
Paschen S, Pacheco V, Bentien A et al (2003) Are type-I clathrates Zintl phases and “phonon glasses and electron single crystals”? Phys B 328:39–43
Prokofiev A, Ikeda M, Makalkina E et al (2013) Melt spinning of clathrates: electron microscopy study and effect of composition on grain size. J Electron Mater 42:1628–1633
Yan X, Falmbigl M, Rogl G et al (2013) High-pressure torsion to improve thermoelectric efficiency of clathrates? J Electron Mater 42:1330–1334
Yang J, Li HM, Wu T et al (2008) Evaluation of half-Heusler compounds as thermoelectric materials based on the calculated electrical transport properties. Adv Funct Mater 18:2880–2888
Yan X, Joshi G, Liu WS et al (2011) Enhanced thermoelectric figure of merit of p-type half-Heuslers. Nano Lett 11:556–560
Benjamin B, Joachim B, Micheal S et al (2011) An alternative approach to improve the thermoelectric properties of half-Heusler compounds. J Electron Mater 40:702–706
Xie WJ, Weidenkaff A, Tang XF (2012) Recent advances in nanostructured thermoelectric half-Heusler compounds. Nanomaterials 2:379–412
Budnova O, Crispin X (2012) Towards polymer-based organic thermoelectric generators. Energy Environ Sci 5:9345–9362
Zhou YC, Wang L, Zhang H et al (2012) Enhanced high thermal conductivity and low permittivity of polyimide based composites by core-shell Ag@SiO2 nanoparticle fillers. Appl Phys Lett 101:012903
Han ZD, Fina A (2011) Thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes and their polymer nanocomposites: a review. Prog Polym Sci 36:914–944
Alaghemandi M, Gharib-Zahedi MR, Spohr E et al (2012) Thermal conductivity of polyamide-6,6 in the vicinity of charged and uncharged graphene layers: a molecular dynamics analysis. J Phys Chem C 116:14115–14122
Kamseu E, Nait-Ali B, Bignozzi MC et al (2012) Bulk composition and microstructure dependence of effective thermal conductivity of porous inorganic polymer cements. J Eur Ceram Soc 32:1593–1603
Huang XY, Iizuka T, Jiang PK et al (2012) Role of interface on the thermal conductivity of highly filled dielectric epoxy/AlN composites. J Phys Chem C 116:13629–13639
Yan H, Sada N, Toshima N (2002) Thermal transporting properties of electrically conductive polyaniline films as organic thermoelectric materials. J Therm Anal Calorim 69:881–887
He M, Ge J, Fang M et al (2010) Fabricating polythiophene into highly aligned microwire film by fast evaporation of its whisker solution. Polymer 51:2236–2243
Casian A, Balandin AA, Dusciac V et al (2002) Promising low-dimensional organic material for IR detectors. In: Proceedings of the 21st international conference on thermoelectrics, IEEE, Long Beach, 25–29 August, 2002
He M, Han W, Ge J et al (2011) All-conjugated poly(3-alkylthiophene) diblock copolymer-based bulk heterojunction solar cells with controlled molecular organization and nanoscale morphology. Energy Environ Sci 4:2894–2902
He M, Han W, Ge J et al (2011) Annealing effects on the photovoltaic performance of all-conjugated poly(3-alkylthiophene) diblock copolymer-based bulk heterojunction solar cells. Nanoscale 3:3159–3163
He M, Qiu F, Lin Z (2011) Conjugated rod-coil and rod–rod block copolymers for photovoltaic applications. J Mater Chem 21:17039–17048
Ge J, He M, Yang XB et al (2012) The first homochiral coordination polymer with temperature-independent piezoelectric and dielectric properties. J Mater Chem 22:19213–19216
Wang ZL (2012) Self-powered nanosensors and nanosystems. Adv Mater 24:280–285
Dubey N, Leclerc M (2011) Conducting polymers: efficient thermoelectric materials. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 49:467–475
Njoroge JL (2010) High thermoelectric efficiency achieved in polymer-nanocomposites. Mater Res Bull 35:909–910
He M, Qiu F, Lin ZQ (2013) Towards high-performance polymer-based thermoelectric materials. Energy Environ Sci 6:1352–1361
Xuan Y, Liu X, Desbief S et al (2010) Thermoelectric properties of conducting polymers: the case of poly(3-hexylthiophene). Phys Rev B 82:15454–15457
Kim GH, Shao L, Zhang K et al (2013) Engineered doping of organic semiconductors for enhanced thermoelectric efficiency. Nat Mater 12:719–723
Yu CH, Choi KW, Yin L et al (2011) Light-weight flexible carbon nanotube based organic composites with large thermoelectric power factors. ACS Nano 5:7885–7892
Chen JK, Gui XC, Wang ZW (2012) Superlow thermal conductivity 3D carbon nanotube network for thermoelectric applications. Appl Mater Interface 4:81–86
Wang YY, Cai KF, Yin JL et al (2011) In situ fabrication and thermoelectric properties of PbTe–polyaniline composite nanostructures. J Nanopart Res 13:533–536
Toshima N, Jiravanichanun N, Marutani H (2012) Organic thermoelectric materials composed of conducting polymers and metal nanoparticles. J Electron Mater 41:1735–1742
Du Y, Shen SZ, Cai KF et al (2013) Research progress on polymer–inorganic thermoelectric nanocomposite materials. Prog Polym Sci 42:1882–1887
Kim GH, Pipe KP (2012) Thermoelectric model to characterize carrier transport in organic semiconductors. Phys Rev B 86:085208
Cronin BV (2009) An inconvenient truth about thermoelectrics. Nat Mater 8:84–85
Kraemer D, Poudel B, Feng HP et al (2011) High-performance flat-panel solar thermoelectric generators with high thermal concentration. Nat Mater 10:532–538
Wang XW, Lee H, Lan YC et al (2008) Enhanced thermoelectric figure of merit in nanostructured n-type silicon germanium bulk alloy. Appl Phys Lett 93:193121
Acknowledgments
C. Han gratefully acknowledges the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) for his scholarship. Z. Li acknowledges support from Australian Research Council (ARC) through the Discovery Project DP130102699. S. Dou is grateful for support from the Baosteel-Australia Research Centre (BARC) through the Project BA110011 and ARC through the Linkage Project LP120200289. The authors also thank Dr. T. Silver for polishing the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
SPECIAL ISSUE: Advanced Materials for Clean Energy
About this article
Cite this article
Han, C., Li, Z. & Dou, S. Recent progress in thermoelectric materials. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 2073–2091 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0237-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0237-2