Thermoelectric Materials Science and Technology Towards Applications

In the past decade, thermoelectric (TE) materials science and technology has received unprecedented attention due to potentially disruptive solutions in critically important areas associated with global energy use and environmental issues. Example applications include room-temperature cooling and chip-size hot-spot/temperature control. A number of new approaches have been established to enhance both the performance of thermoelectric materials and the conversion efficiency of devices. Multi-scale microstructure design/modulation techniques, aided by in-depth understanding of electron/phonon transport fundamentals, have brought the dimensionless figure-of-merit zT to ~ 2.0. This stimulates further research on materials performance, and energizes the development of high-efficiency TE device design/integration technology for practical applications for both cooling and power generation. Flexible thermoelectrics for novel soft/deformable materials and devices have also recently emerged to meet the needs of the Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

This special topic will cover various topics in TE research including high-performance TE material discovery with a focus on novel materials synthesis for improved functionality, the applied physics aspects related to multi-scale structure fabrication/modulation technology, and high-efficiency/high-reliability device design/integration. Together, these endeavors contribute to promoting the practical applications of thermoelectricity in various fields such as harvesting of industrial waste heat, power supplies in aerospace and/or marine environments, electronic device cooling, room-temperature cooling, and energy efficient vehicles.